Does anyone see Mt. Shasta in the photo? No? Well it’s there, Granny Hat has been to that same viewpoint before and marveled at the beauty of the Lonely Mountain. Today, however, Smaug the Mighty Dragon was very perturbed over a riddle or some treasure or something and breathed his fire and ash over all of the Northwest. There are signs everywhere thanking the forest fire fighters for their tireless work. Dear Lord, send rain.
From Travels With Charlie by John Steinbeck: (because Granny Hat certainly cannot say it better nor would she even attempt to go up against the master, it might incur his wrath…)
“When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked. Four hoarse blasts of a ship’s whistle still raise the hair on my neck and set my feet to tapping. The sound of a jet, an engine warming up, even the clopping of shod hooves on pavement brings on the ancient shudder, the dry mouth and vacant eye, the hot palms and the churn of stomach high up under the rib cage. In other words, I don’t improve; in further words, once a bum always a bum. I fear the disease is incurable. I set this matter down not to instruct others but to inform myself.
When the virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, and the road away from Here seems broad and straight and sweet, the victim must first find in himself a good and sufficient reason for going. This, to the practical bum , is not difficult. He has a built in garden of reasons to choose from………..Once a journey is designed, equipped and put in process, a new factor enters and takes over. A trip, a safari, an exploration is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has personality, no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip, a trip takes us.”
Mission’s trip has certainly taken him down roads he never planned, to places very few people have seen and introduced him to new ways to survive and thrive in the wilderness. Now the trip is trying to master the Mission but he knows that the joy is in the journey not just in the finish. He sounded positive and hopeful today on the phone. So while forest fires, trail closures and Forest Service mandates threaten to disappoint, Mission is determined to either find a way to the Canadian border through detours or finish with celebration and gratitude as far north as possible. Granny Hat has Plan A, B and C all lined up for meeting him, but it will probably be Plan D or E. It’s an adventure! It’s a trip!
Long Way Home, David Dunn
This life feels like the longest part
Even though eternity is ours
And on our way to streets of gold
Let’s savor every mile of this road
We’re not where we’re going
And we’re not lost where we are
Taking the long way home
Just taking the long way home
There’s beauty on the backroads
Even when this journey’s hard
Taking the long way home
Just taking the long way home
Celebrate what we have now
Living life like every moment counts
Here on earth with Kingdom eyes
Treasuring the gift of borrowed time
No, we won’t miss the view while we’re on this climb
Oh, the stories we’ll take to the other side
No, we won’t miss the view while we’re on this ride
Oh, the stories we’ll take to the other side
The other side
Granny Hat appreciates all those prayers and urges her followers to read Travels With Charley, but beware, you may get struck with wanderlust and then “once a bum, always a bum!”
Mission’s coordinates tonight: 47.86377, -121.14886
Granny Hat 