Been there, got the T-shirt

It's a Wednesday today. Normally, I would be out climbing with Elaine. Probably at Jurassic Park (as it's close to home and handy after work; we don't work afternoons on Wednesday's). However, I dropped Elaine off at Nice airport a couple of hours ago. She has gone back to Preston for a family funeral.

So, Scamp and I went for a walk in the forest up the hill behind our house. Scamp and I know this walk off by heart, as we've been doing it together for nearly 10 years now. We always enjoy this beautiful walk and the stunning view of the Gorges du Loup from the top. We go out in all kinds of weather and we never get bored: Scamp carries a stick and marks her patch whilst I contemplate the meaning of life, the universe and everything. You see, I used to do the same walk with Merlin (Scamp's predecessor) and old habits are hard to kick.

This year has been a pivotal time in my life. Elaine and I have both had to deal with my 2 year depression. Sadly, I lost my father in February and in April I had an operation in my mouth (due to a mistake by a dentist from which I may possibly never fully recover). As a result, I am now very much aware of the passage of time and the fact that, in the grand scale of things, we are pretty insignificant indeed. But, hey, today I came to the conclusion that I can cope with that. Such is life and I'm one happy little chappie.

Anyway, starting last week, I am now working part time. Yippee! So, why didn't I go out climbing with friends after dropping Elaine off? Well, that's because I'm going out tomorrow you see! Robin and I are going to the new secteur at Deverse. Hopefully, I'll get some photos to share.

I used to have an ace T-shirt (dating from the time when I was sponsored by DMM in the nineties) which bore the lifestyle logo of "Climb now work later". During the past few years I haven't been able to follow that lifestyle freely. Now (as my depression is now under control) I feel like a burden has been lifted and I can get back to normal again and start thinking about climbing now and working later.

A couple of days ago, I noticed a post from Duncan McCallum about a poem written by an old man and found after he had died. It was so poignant as it spoke about how he felt so young and sharp inside whilst young folks just assumed he was senile and worthless.This kind of made me think about the current generation of young climbers who appear to forget about the great things done by previous generations. For example, in the nineties there were many climbers regularly (and modestly) ticking the hard routes of the time without seeing the need to make any big deal about it. So, why is it big news on UKC when somebody does Raindogs or Predator and so on, as such routes were already established trade routes well over 20 years ago? Maybe, these climbers are just blissfully unaware. It seems that everybody wants to be sponsored and become famous. I say get a life and just climb, who cares.

Anyway, shut up and climb.