Years of Poems and Spirits

On today’s NYT web page, there was this striking picture where hundreds of immigrants in the rain waiting to be swore in as citizens. The geometrical pattern of uniformed figures instantly reminded me of Sebastião Salgado’s photo of laborers in Brazilian mines.

I don’t think I can “explain” what I see as common between the two photos–not just visual patterns but the contextual reading, for example. Nevertheless, I have always admired Salgado’s works. If I can afford it, I would devote a wall for his original prints.

Here is a good link of some of his works.

I didn’t summit: I turned around just 1400 feet below the summit because I didn’t think I was able to keep up with the rest of the group.

I have been training hard to go with a group of MBA students to summit Baker and Rainier. It is very disappointing now that I failed. It is even harder to write this entry down.

There can be many excuses. Afterall, Mt. Baker, at 10,800 feet, is not that higher than Camp Muir where I have been to at least four times now. At the point where I turned back, I wasn’t particularly tired. Although I was slow but I was able to recover fairly quickly after short stops. The wind was strong but it was not as much as what I encountered on Mt. Adams, nor was it very cold. I just didn’t feel comfortable and was not sure how my body would react in the wind.

I guess this trip ends my mountaineering attempt: my body just is not built for the cold and wind. It is fortunate that I still have plenty of places to go and I enjoy them just as much. But admitting defeat is never easy whatever mitigating factors there are.

Along I-405, there is only a short stretch of road where you can see both peaks (back and forth). And I happen to drive on that stretch every day.