Soul and Soles

We left Taos and traveled toward Angels Fire, a skiing resort. We still have not come across any skiers though. Hikes 15 and 16 were in the neighboring towns of Angels Fire and Eagles Nest in New Mexico. We hear a lot of talk about angels in this part of the world. However, we submit nothing can ‘top’ the climb and excitement (danger) of Angels’ Landing at Zion. The cliff walls in Zion are 90%--end of story. New Mexico has stunning surrounding mountains covered with trees, much like its neighbor, Colorado . We are in awe of the natural beauty we experience. These hikes required some skill as we crossed water, climbed on loose soil and stones up steep gradients. We did not think about life too much on the trail as we needed full concentration for our footing. It was a case of soul faith and good sole treads.

Both hikes were seven miles. Our editor chooses the hikes mostly and we are starting to discern a pattern. They do not exceed that distance (7 miles) lately—the recent eleven-mile hike may have proved too much for her. Maybe she is slowing down. Don’t tell her this—I am glad for the shorter duration. Angels Fire hike was only a thousand feet gain but it was very pretty, especially the first part. Today, Clear Creek proved to be quite different. We crossed the stream about eight or nine times but on a few occasions, we hiked on logs and tree trunks. Initially, we could not find the trailhead so we improvised. Improvise is not a concept that you want to try when we are around. The beginning tested our mettle and our titanium. We were fortunate to meet up with the regular trail after twenty minutes. From there, we climbed for three miles steadily. Thereafter, the final half-mile was challenging. It appears the concept of ‘switchbacks’ has not been discovered in this state. We climbed straight up on loose stones and soil. However, it was as always, well worth it. The views of the neighboring mountains and trees are spectacular at that height.

We sat and gazed at the beauty while we recovered our breath. It is most humbling to sit in such an environment knowing one is but a mere speck in the world, perhaps even less.

Then a funny thing happened. We began to think and ponder. We hear people talking about soccer these days. The World Cup has generated a lot of excitement. We loved to play soccer during the previous century. We think soccer is a metaphor for life. Our son, Robbie, is currently enjoying the World Cup in South Africa. We hope he is learning the great lesson we are all pursuing. In soccer, one must aim for the goalposts—that is the purpose of the game—to shoot for the target. We think life is just the same. Even if one misses the target, as we do all the time, at least one may gauge the extent of the miss. Of course, we need to have a definition of the goalposts—Hashem gave it to us.

Talking of Robbie, he recently completed four years of college and is now pursuing a career—not in soccer. One day we were saying how grateful we are that the US Administration and the politicians all have our interests at heart. We can sit on top of the mountains knowing our future pension funds are invested wisely in AIG, General Motors, Fannie and Freddie and other great companies. It is very heartening to feel that the elected officials only want the best for the American people. Rob listens to all this and asks the following question: ‘Dad, why are they paying big bonuses to the management of the ‘bailed-out’ banks’. We take pride that our son is showing interest in these weighty matters of state. ‘In order to retain critical management, companies have to pay large bonuses,’ we answer with all the confidence of a seasoned economist. ‘But Dad,’ he continues, ‘why retain the management that bankrupted the companies in the first place, never mind even pay bonuses?’

We are now thinking he may need at least another two years at college or perhaps, go directly to the gulag.