The Climb

He climbs the mountain every day, yet every day the mountain changes.  He tries to start each climb anew, but often pains lingering from the prior days trek still weigh heavy on his body, on his mind. The mountain he ascends is magical and cursed; sometimes he can feel the demons stirring beneath his feet as he pushes forward and up, toward the top, to the end of his climb, trying, not always succeeding, to not fall backward or let the dark things lurking beneath grab hold of him and anchor him in place.  On those days, when the demons bony black fingers reach up through the cracks in the rocks and wrap themselves around his legs, digging their nails into his bones, he begins a struggle, both physical and mental, to break free from their burning grasp.  Most times he is able to break free with as little as a swift kick; some times the fingers turn into hands, then into arms, and the nothing in the cracks they protrude from ensnares him.  It's those days that he feels as if the weight of the world is holding him down, aiding the evil extremities in their plight to claim him as one of their own, to pull him through the cracks, into the darkness he tries so hard to avoid.  Luckily he's always survived; even on the worst days, when he felt the fingers tightening around his throat, vision fading, about to let the darkness have him, he always pulled a fire out from within him, burned away the claws and continued on his journey.

He's aware of how easy it is to lose track of the path upward, to miss checkpoints he thought he'd reach with no problem because a path looked easier in a fleeting moment of exhaustion.  Some days it takes every bit of strength not to set up camp for good, to settle out of convenience; the land may be flat (at the moment) and the food may be plentiful (for now), but then he looks up again, into the vast expanses of the mountain, still unable to see the top, knowing that its there and that it's glorious. Nothing worth fighting for is ever easy, nothing settled for ever sticks, and giving up was never an option; its his mantra, and it fuels him through those times of doubt that the top is too far, that the best isn't worth it, that he doesn't deserve the Eden that surely rests at the top for all the stumbles, near misses and breaks he took from his expedition. "Is there even an Eden?" he would ask himself sometimes.  There must be because what would be the point of the climb and all its adversity.

He made a conscious decision to make this climb alone early on.  He found that almost any problem encountered was complicated by companions, be they family, friends or lovers.  There were a handful of time's he would let other travelers join paths with him to aid each other on their journeys.  Some for brief moments, even fewer for extended periods, but inevitably they parted ways for one reason or another.  There were those who's own paths dominated his to the point where he didn't recognize the mountain anymore, others drained his energy and patience enough where the only way out was to let the darkness take hold just long enough to push them away, and still even others were simply not as prepared to face the challenges that lay ahead, so he left them in the night.  It's all he knew, it was how he learned to adapt from a young age, that those who should be there to hold down the tent when the winds picked up at night almost never were, and those that were would steal your rations until they had their fill, then disappear.  Although it happened more often then not, he always preferred some company now and again, so he would take on those willing until history repeated itself; until he found the one.

The one had been travelling a somewhat parallel road to his on the mountain, their paths have even crossed from time to time, but like two ships passing in the night, there was only a brief acknowledgment before continuing onward, both absorbed by the harrowing tasks they had at hand. He always wondered, but the opportunity never presented itself, if the one would be a good companion.  Then one night amidst a particularly foggy sky the two once again crossed paths.  At first he was bewildered, but riding a wave of confidence he began to inquire more than he had at previous meetings. Questions led to conversation, conversation to laughs, and eventually to a unity...alas another companion; THE companion he had been waiting for, the one.

Almost instantly the journey became more bearable.  Hardships were lessened, certain goals became clearer while other less daunting and unimportant ones seemed to vanish from the course all together. Together they tackled obstacles from the minor to the path altering; and no matter the size they seemed to overcome them all.  They were not without their troubles, though who is?  Especially with the terrain that they walked on, but onward they traveled, each tribulation reinforcing the strength of their companionship.  For the first time he could visualize the top, almost see it peeking through the clouds, breaking through the dust, as welcoming and as glorious as he imagined; even more so.  The path ahead, although rocky in places, was manageable in the least, and the sun seemed that much brighter, felt that much warmer on his face.  He looked up, then at his companion, grabbed her hand, and together they walked forward, upward, toward the inevitable end, heads held high, constantly looking for the top of the world.

Captains Blog. Stardate VAYCAY 1

There's something about driving through Ohio at 4am blasting "Back Dat Ass Up" fueled by caffeine and a desperate urge too pee that makes me feel like we're finally on vacation.   Not only are we a far west as we've ever been but I just had the weirdest experience at a truck stop, and no it didn't involve a glory hole.

I was taking my much anticipated leak when an Amish man comes in to piss as well, decked out in his straw hat, blue shirt and brown vest and pants, sporting a beard and looking like he was ready to start a day in the life an Amish, whatever that met be.  The wired part was by the time I was done with my leak every bathroom stall and urinal was filled with  Amish people and Amish dudes waiting to use the bathroom.  This is a truck stop bathroom so there's probably thirty stations to relieve yourself and is huge but all of the sudden I found myself in the middle of an Amish rave at ten after four in the morning at a pit stop off I80.  Then I walked out and all their wives and daughters were walking around the rest stop looking like lost sheep.  Oh and they all smelled weird, can't really put my finger on what life though.

Then we walked back out to the car and couldn't figure out where the hell they came from.  No buggys, no farms in site. It was life the children of the corn, they just walked in off the fields and we probably escaped with our lives.

OK that's all for now, typing on my tablet is annoying so I might wait until I get to a computer.   On with the quest!

VACATION...Like The Movie, But For Real!

This is it, today is the day my good friend and I embark on a journey into the semi-unknown.  I'm so goddamn excited, except I feel like I'm coming down with something so I've been eating Airborne tablets at about 5 times the recommended dose per day.  I think I'm either keeping it at bay or have somehow managed to get high off Vitamin C; whatever the case, in a few hours I'm getting in my Jeep with my buddy Gary and hitting the road for the next day or so.

Again we have no plans, just a time frame of when we gotta be back to resume the rat race, and we think this is the best way to do it.  If anyone reading this knows one or both of us, people tend to take a liking to us.  I don't know why, maybe it's our personalities, maybe we come off as ultra sexy, maybe its our "fuck it, lets do it" attitude, but one thing is for sure, we have a penchant for meeting people and getting into things and every time we do something its ALWAYS and adventure.  We also tend to attract a lot of weird or borderline insane people, so we agreed if we hear banjos in the woods at any point in our trip we are high tailing it the fuck out of wherever we are.  That being said, any post on here within the next week (if I can get to a computer, if not no worries I'm bringing a journal so I don't forget anything and you all will get a full debriefing upon return) will be details of our grand adventure.

When I think about this trip I think about one of my favorite movie franchises of all time, the National Lampoons Vacation series.  I laughed my ass off watching and re-watching every single movie (admittedly not so much Vegas Vacation) and I fancy myself an amateur Clark Griswald, in fact this is going to be my mantra for the trip:

Barring any Marty Moose type bullshit or dying aunts (and I would totally strap her ass to the roof) this trip is indeed A QUEST FOR FUN.  I need this vacation more now than ever with the things going on in my life at the moment and even if its a semi-disaster like all their vacations were in the movies, it'll still be awesome.  Going on this trip with a cant lose attitude is only assuring that the quest will be successful.

I'm still trying to pack and finish up at work so I have to cut this short.  But I will leave you with a quote from the ultimate road trip movie, a quote I feel hits home and stresses the point of both morality of the human spirit, and a will to make the most out of any situation.  Enjoy, and talk to you peeps soon.