Images

My philosophy of life in the Pennsylvania Outlands is this: Don't let the weather stop you. If you're a ninny about the weather, then you will never enjoy life here. Heck, if you're a ninny about the weather, then you've probably got deeper issues that this blog can't address.

And yet, I'm more than a little saddened that I got freezing rain during my week's most sacred hours, Sunday afternoon. Freezing rain is the one thing that can usually make you wish you'd stayed in. And so, instead of reporting on the weekly adventure, I am left to pour over images from finer seasons, the Ghost of Hiking Past.

They say there are two phases to life. There's an earlier phase when you're primarily oriented toward the future: marriage, children, career goals, adventures, etc. And then, after all your goals have been met (or left glaringly unmet), and the flower of youth begins to fade, there comes a second phase, where you are primarily oriented toward the past. This second phase comes earlier for some than for others, and it isn't necessarily a bad time in life. How bad it is depends on how you invested the energies of your earlier days.

I wonder why no one ever gets caught up in the present, the here-and-now? Why don't we ever fix on the phase we've got in our hands at the time? I don't know. But I've got to admit: I'm definitely oriented toward the future this week. I've got a lot of hopes riding on the afternoon of Sunday, 12/20, the next chance I'll get to hit the trails.

I was hoping to explore the ghost of Pig's Ear, but the ATV trail reopens down there next Sunday, so it might have to wait for another day. I'd love to find out how that place got its name. Was someone really trying to make a silk purse or something?