Thursday, July 4, 2013

The Last Weekend of May

I don’t know what it is with mountains but the weekend our family climbed one, it was magical. I was completely swept over with deep gratitude:
for togetherness, for family, for an able body, for stamina, for being able to afford tiny luxuries such as an unplanned overnight stay in a hotel when the soul has been begging for nothing else but some nice hot bath, soft bed and warm blankets

I woke up unexplainably happy that weekend and saw how God’s grace has put me where I needed to be throughout my 35 years.

I saw, too, how the imperfect and less than ideal can end up beautiful and heartwarming:
rain on the descent from the summit that made everything trickier;  rain still when we got down to the campsite where we had planned to pitch tent for the night; the hotel (or inn, looking rather shabby from the outside) that we had to settle for because our first three choices were all fully booked

That weekend I realized all over again that I can never outthink and out-imagine God, especially on the best way to warm my heart. He just knows it way better than I can ever try.

What can I say.  The soul yearns for epiphanies and when it does catch some, there's magic (and yes, a bit of mush, too).



Genuinely curious, our youngest hiker Zion asked after hurdling the first peak what the whole point of climbing a mountain was.  Why break yourself like that? The answer comes the moment you reach the summit: the breathtaking view; the sense of accomplishment; a fresh perspective of life; a heightened sense of freedom (or is it empowerment) from realizing that there are things that you do not because you need to (like the things you do Monday through Friday) but because you want to and you can. And yes, you really can.

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In the summit, you're filled with all these positive emotions, until you see the dark clouds looking heavy and you imagine the descent you'll soon be making and you start worrying about the kids.
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After just a few minutes of raining, it already got super muddy. And here is where we all really had fun, the kind that you don't get from theme parks.  Walking with 5 inches of mud under your shoes feels like walking on the moon in an astronaut's suit. I don't think we'd have more fun if there were no mudslides and buttfalls. Zion asked if that was how real adventure looked like.  Well, of course, son!
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Bulalo + videoke all to ourselves = best way to cool down from a muddy climb. Marvin got to hone his Pusong Bato rendition. Charming guy.

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If we stayed in the better known Tagaytay hotels, we wouldn't have gotten this spacious and cozy room for half the price. And you get to listen to the rhythm of the falling rain on the vine-covered patio. 


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Our morning-after view from the hotel. Couldn't be more perfect.


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Sans Ez because we didn't think he was ready for the climb ;)