On awakening this morning, my guest writer a.k.a. my hiking partner mentioned that he seems to be the one writing all the articles. Hmmm… he has a point, I thought. And then I got to thinking. His blogs make me laugh, they also make me cry at times, he is inspirational, his pieces are spiritual, and above all, he builds me up with great compliments. Oh yes, he also comes cheap! Only the odd favor do I have to pay .... a back tickle every now and again. Now what editor could refuse a deal like that!
So, to all my readers (both of you), I hope you continue to enjoy the articles. Any comments and contributions would be most welcome.
Best regards,
- The Editor
We are in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. It is difficult to see what the main business is of the town. It would seem that most visitors enjoy their “Time-Share Units” situate near-by. Today we intend to take it a little easy. We decide on a moderate hike of 7 miles with perhaps a thousand feet elevation gain. We are once again puzzled as the hike is named Four-Mile-Falls, which we calculate as an 8-mile round-trip. Go figure. We have no idea what is in store for us.
I ask my editor for some leeway because we are feeling emotional. Today, June 13th, is the birthday of the hero in my life. I have only had one and he is it. Had he lived to this day, Laib ben Zelik (alav ha-shalom) would have reached his 90th birthday. I will share but one story of my Dad. When I was four, I apparently asked him why I don’t see him often. It appears I have never had much tact. He worked hard during the week and played golf on the weekends. The next weekend he ended golf for the following ten years. At fourteen years old, I took to the game of golf and encouraged my Dad to return. We became playing partners. Four golf clubs refused to allow me to play in the adult competitions with my Dad. So, he rejected membership until he found one that would accept me. There is never a day I don’t think of him—today I think about him a little more than usual.
Back to the trail. We use superlatives often, I admit. However, this was another great trail. The meadows, trees, flowers, streams and background peaks were humbling. (Water, heat, rain and snow all coexisting together made us think how fickle we humans can be). Once again, we felt we were in paradise as we crossed streams and meadows, entered and left forests and finally, reached the magnificent falls. Perhaps we were a little brazen but we decided to climb from the side and enter along the precipice of the mid-falls so that we stood under the towering flow of water. It was slippery, muddy , very steep and icy cold but the spray invigorated us that we ignored the potential peril. Our editor held me tight and I felt safe. We hope that the pictures do justice to this unexpected climax.
We gazed at the falls and were overcome by the power of the flow. Our mood influenced our thoughts. The water represented the tears of Hashem because of the state of the world. Then we thought of Torah and the lessons of our teacher Rav. Wohlgelernter. We remember that Hashem commands us to be joyous, to choose life. If that is His way, then the flow of water must surely be His tears of joy for the beautiful world He created. We realize it all depends on your perspective, where you stand, your attitude. The tears that trickled down our cheeks were of joy after all, only tempered by our thoughts of how much we miss our Father.
Thank you for indulging me. I know I’m truly blessed to have a wife who is an Aishet Chayil and a gem, (although a tough editor), a mother whom I am so proud of, and children who we love, not forgetting many friends who are very dear to us. Baruch Hashem and thank you.
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