Eighteen years in the making, tomorrow I am going to complete the goal of climbing all 48 4000 foot mountains in the Granite State. As goals go, it is not all that meaningful an objective, except that the older I grow the harder these mountains are to hike. My 47th climb, last month, was especially brutal, taking me nearly 12 hours to bag Mt. Isolation. Fittingly, I did the hike alone. A half a day hiking alone in the woods gives one plenty of time to think.
Now this kind of hiking is not like an Everest Expedition, but it still requires a fair amount of planning. Weather plays a huge part, of course, as it dictates what clothing and other gear is necessary. Can I find potable water, or must I carry enough for my needs? Is my map up-to-date? Is there a current trail report available to assist in my preparations? Am I fit enough to enjoy the hike, or should I postpone until I can get a few more sessions in the gym? How much food to bring, what safety equipment to bring in the event that I am benighted? Batteries? First Aid kit? Having done 47 of these hikes, I learned that rational planning enhances the chances for success. Because I plan, I've never had any serious difficulties, save for a couple of exposed above tree-line hikes in terrible thunderstorms. I am honest about my abilities, and have even turned back just short of a summit when the weather suddenly turned dangerous. Of course this required trying for those peaks again.
Instead of continuing my preparations for my Mount Cabot hike, I logged into the New York Times this morning. My favorite prize-winning economist opines about the latest GOP folly, its new published agenda to be enacted if it should return to power. It is the very antithesis of careful planning, a fantasy document more attuned with magical thinking than rational policy making. Replete with Reagan era wishful thinking about the evil of Big Government it seeks to return America to the age of Herbert Hoover. Newt Gingrich pulled this trick in 1994, and his successors hope to fool the voting public again. I would never trust these cats to plan one of my hikes, let alone plan for my country.
Good luck on your hike!! The GOP's manifesto is pretty much every semi-good thing that Obama has done....slight coincidence perhaps?? If they spent more time enacting better policies then continually just being against the policies of the Obama administration, then perhaps they would have better leaders than Glenn Beck, Caribou Barbie, and Christine and her coven. I am also completely ashamed of the members of congress who voted against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell, Republican, Democrat, and Independents.
ReplyDeleteWanted to share a tweet that Seth Macfarlane wrote yesterday that I found humorous.."For a group that hates gays, isn't "tea party" kind of a gay name?" He also wrote that "continuing the tax cuts for the rich is like asking John Holmes if he needs a bigger penis". Although he said it in language that was slightly more harsh.
America does not need two Republican parties, but that is what we now have. Watch the debate about whether the Bush tax cuts should be extended. this should have been a no-brainer: extend them for the middle class but let them expire for the rich. Instead, by dithering and letting the blue dogs control the majority party's agenda they have handed the GOP a victory. Now the minority party can correctly portray the Dems as weak and incapable of governing.
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