On a morning of clear blue sky, a cold face of ancient rock is embraced by the warmth from an ancient sun, as an old man with ancient-feeling legs realizes he probably walked too far down that mountainside just to get a photograph.
As you probably guessed, I'm that man. It was fairly easy to make it down the mountain, the slope being accommodating and the rock giving traction to my boots; but I looked back up to from where I came and wondered for a moment if I'd spend the rest of my life looking up to from where I came.
The feeling was a bit unsettling.
Were my old legs and old heart and old lungs up to the task of getting back to the top of that mountain, where my car was parked?
No, they weren't. And that's why I'm still down there.
Wait a minute!
Apparently ... I did eventually make my way back up to the mountaintop. As I recall, I took it in several short efforts, catching my breath, letting my legs take a break as I sat on that sloped surface. Legs and lungs and heart struggled mightily, but they rose to the task, though with considerable objection.
And what a relief. It felt great to finally reach the summit, and once again to look out over the valleys and rolling hills, now in bright sunlight … and then to look back down that mountain and notice that the looking down part was far less stressful than the looking up part.
I hope to return to Bald Rock Heritage Preserve when the weather warms up ... but I won't be going down that mountainside again.
Lesson learned.