Changing Principles

Not a 'rock'ing chair

Jenni at peak in Santa Fe

Our editor breaks the pattern finally. We advance from the standard 7-mile hike to the 8-mile climb. We are happy with the ‘baby-steps’ approach. We might even be happier had she reduced the length rather than increased it. However, we are very satisfied with the efforts of our editor—she knows how to get our ‘juices’ flowing. Besides, we are the big strong male figure and should act accordingly.



We are still in Santa Fe and commenced the hike from St John’s College Campus. This is part of the third oldest college in America, dating back well before our editor’s time, the late 17th century. We know we take a chance at her expense, from time to time, but we are just rebelling against the authority of the ‘harsh red pen’. We also are a bit worried about the rolling of the eyes by our editor. We have concerns that her lenses are about to pop out any minute because of her eye movements.

The trail commences in a relaxed manner and we think our editor has committed her first error of judgment. Within minutes however, we begin to ‘eat our words’ as the gradient turns more acute. We climb 2300 feet. We are developing the feeling a foot is getting longer than twelve inches. Thereafter, it only gets tougher but it is a wonderful climb as we are on the cliff edge for a good part of the way. The views cover the whole of the city--they are magnificent. It is quite amazing to look down on the other mountains that are high themselves. From the summit, we are able to peer at Colorado. As we had just spent a week there, we did not look too hard. Besides, we have learned it’s rude to stare.
What a feeling at the top

We are also pleased to find the first hike in New Mexico that introduced the ‘switchback’. It made it a little easier and we hope this is a developing trend. We look over at our editor who is perched on the cliff edge. We admire her courage and growth. We also think how she censored an article we wrote recently. We are not bitter about it at all, we are above such pettiness…well, maybe only a little bit. We thought it captured our essence. Apparently, we were wrong. We said we are going ahead against her wishes. ‘If you do then there will be a change in arrangements around here,’ she replied. ‘Like what?’ we asked while thinking everything is about change these days. ‘You will find yourself sleeping on the floor,” she answered.
“That’s not change we can believe in”—we are too soft for the floor and too much in love to miss the opportunity to share the same bed.