The Mountain As Family

Wild Geese
 by Mary Oliver

 You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
In the family of things. 

     If you know something of my background, you understand why family is a concept with some gaping holes in it.  But, I think I've come to realize that the mountain is a part of my extended family. Although trust is a shaky concept where people are concerned, the mountain, for me, is solid, always welcoming, always trying to teach me to be a better self.  She has been teaching me for some time that to cling to safety (hold on to her for dear life) will produce the opposite effect - a fall.  Letting go of her hand sets me free and enables me to, at times, soar.

      I'm having the best ski season of my life so far.  Things that I didn't fully "get" earlier, I've come to a much clearer understanding of.  As a result, my sense of adventure is increasing as is my confidence as a skier.  To all of the many instructors who've worked hard and long with me, my sincere gratitude.

To Mermer Blakeslee, most of all, THANK YOU!