On the Mountain

Monday, was absolutely gorgeous here, in the New York. The first warm, non-winter feeling day in a long, long time. That's why at 10:45pm Sunday night I decided to take a "sick" day Monday. Okay, I didn't really decide Chris decided for me. Or, really, we decided together.

We rented a $80 Zip Car- a Honda Civic- and hit the road at 9:00AM, North- to Bear Mountain. Chris would have preferred the $120 BMW, but one again chose sacrifice over splurging. After arriving at 10:15AM, picnic lunch and 3 liters of water in tote (on Chris's back of course) we started our climb.

Bear Mountain is an easy climb, for people who are climbers- per se- like my husband is. I didn't need special shoes or ropes and pulleys attached to me to make it to the top. Much of the mountain was excavated and cleared, with steps and stairs winding to the top. However, being a climber, an adventurer a thrill seeker and someone who enjoys living out of a car for days at a time; my husband thought our way up would not include the stairs.

We cut straight through the rock and leaves and dead limbs left behind from winter. Some of the route we took was part of the Appalachian Trail, some was cleared for hiking, some, was sort of desolate. But we made it to the top in about two hours and it felt really great. At each clearing I'd stop and look back and out across at the view and think, "Wow, look how far we've come." Near the end, I did say a couple of times, "Aren't we at the top yet?"

We found a lookout spot of our own, on a over-sized bench with the perfect view, and watched birds (I called them hawks, Chris called them eagles) gliding in-between the mountains and among the tree tops. We had our snack: Stef- English peas, carrot sticks, nuts and prunes. Chris- a PB&J, carrot sticks and hummus and 4 vanilla cream cookies. We sat. We wrote in our

journals, we sweat. Chris took this shirt off and bask in the sun like lizard who hadn't felt the sun so warm in months.

We finally did find our way to the tippy-top, and the lookout tower. There were cars and motorcycles parked around and a few others who had hiked the route instead of driving. We climbed up more stairs to the lookout tower, which would have held spectacular views had it not been overcast and a bit foggy, but I wasn't complaining. Supposedly, you can see the city.

Then we headed back down. Only after stopping, again, at our "rest area" of choice with the big bench. I just didn't want to leave the mountain. It was peaceful and scenic and so far away from what I have to deal with day in and day out. No noise, no chores, no other people... Chris said this is the problem with the mountain top; you can't stay there forever, as nice as that would be.

I finished the last sip of my coconut water, wrote one more line in my journal about how this day would sustain me for weeks to come and told Chris I was ready to move on. Only if we could take the stairs: the more traveled route. He agreed. I was happy that I had climbed up through rocks and sticks and piles of dead leaves, I didn't want to have to avoid tumbling down that way too.

I think Chris was proud of me for following him up the mountain, and trusting that he wouldn't lead me to harm and believing in myself that I could actually do it. And, he told me that he hadn't cut his toenails lately and quite frankly, the impact of going downhill like that would be painful on his toes.

Five hours after parking our Zip-car and heading up Bear Mountain, we had returned to the now busting parking lot. Chris took off his backpack, we grabbed our apples and headed over to sit by the lake.

It was such a sweet time; with Chris, with the quietness, with God- reflecting, thinking, praying. I couldn't thank Chris enough for making me take this mental health day to step out of my head for awhile. To relax and get away. I needed it more than I knew and until I got out there, pushed myself, climbed, sweat and got an amazing farmers tan- I had no idea how caught up I was.

On the drive back we contemplated what else we might need to do with a car. It was ours for 24 hours. Target? No Wal-Mart? Nah. There is one place I wanted to go: Trader Joe's. A Trader Joe's outside of Manhattan where I could look, shop, have space to push a grocery cart and buy as much as I wanted. More than I could carry even because... I had a car to put it all in!

My husband was so selfless and nice that he found one on our way back into the city in Westchester. And I spent over $100.

It was a good day to play hooky from work. It was necessary and needed and I feel like I brought back a piece of something bigger than myself. Something that reminds me there is no need to rush, even when everyone else is. Something that slows me down and makes me look up instead of down. Something that reminds me that this world will one day be as it was meant to be- restored. Transformed. Made new. Made whole.

I climbed my first mountain, and I'm ready for a little more.