I got a poster for Christmas. It was made by a map maker who specializes in creating documents that might have come from an ancient source. This one is in the style of the Lord of the Rings. It was given to me by a person who knows about my 15-year journey crisscrossing the US to climb the Highpoints of America.
The longer I looked at the poster the more I wanted to color in the places I had visited. I borrowed some markers from my Son and began slowly to fill in each space. I looked at my photos of each location and picked similar colors. Early on I got to Charles Mound, the Highpoint of Illinois. It's a strange place in the backyard of a private farmer who only allows people to visit on two different weekends during the year because of so many intrusions into his family's privacy over the years. I remember walking through is cornfield on the way to the spot and tinted the paper in accordance with my memory.
Each place took me on a mental journey. Some even had scents attached to them. All of them had joy. Many of them had physical challenges and pain connected to the story. I got to #21 New York and recalled the three trips to finally get to the top of Mt. Marcy just this last summer. The very next one is Nebraska. It is higher but so much simpler. Located just a mile from the three-state marker of Colorado/Wyoming/Nebraska, it's a 16-mile drive down a dirt road flat as a starched sheet. It takes zero effort to walk from the car door to the marker. The largest herd of buffalo I have ever seen was thundering across the prairie just to the West. It took my breath away. I got to #14, Texas, remembering our COVID trip to Big Bend and the pleasure of being outdoors. I have a hard time reconciling Hawaii's #6 status. It does not seem right that such a high mountain jumps up out of the ocean.
There are six uncolored mountains. I keep hearing the siren call of adventure. Gazing into 2024 I'm trying to link my life, my energy, and my passions with the challenges ahead. Will I color in any more of these mountains? If not these, then where? Opportunities abound. We just have to decide where we will give ourselves. Let's make 2024 count.
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