Climbing connects us

I woke up this morning and looked at my to-do list for the day.  I was a couple of days late in calling the tech support for my computer so they could get rid of anything suspicious or bad, so I decided to call right away and get that taken care of.  I bought a year plan so that I could make sure that the virus they removed last month didn’t resurface and I don’t have any more trouble with bugs on my computer for a while.  Anyway, I was talking to a tech support engineer named Abbysan, who was filling in for “Harry”, the fellow I originally talked to who fixed my computer last month, and Abbysan came upon my blog page as he was checking my computer.  I told him that’s what it was and he asked what it was about.  I happily replied that it was about rock climbing.  He said he wasn’t a rock climber, but he understood climbing because his house is only a handful of kilometers from Mt. Everest (part of the Himalayan Mountain Range and tallest mountain in the world!!!) and he could see it when he laid on his roof in the sun.  We had quite the conversation as he described it and we talked about climbing and what we do and such.  I really enjoyed connecting with another person on the other side of the world through climbing.  That totally made my day!  He told me that climbing was very good for me, and I wholeheartedly agreed!

I realized a couple of things.  First, I do truly want to become an alpinist.  I want to climb the world’s mountains and have some spectacular experiences in this mortal life!  Second, it’s fun to connect with people from all over the world through climbing and it gives us common ground with people from all kinds of cultures and walks of life.  Some amazing results come out of that!  For example, I made a new friend who can see Mt. Everest from his rooftop up close and personal!  That’s spectacular!  To hear, firsthand, a description of the mountain and the rain and the snow and the sun like that was so awesome!  You never know who you’re going to talk to or meet through climbing, as a topic or as an activity!  I think it’s pretty amazing!  Climbing can be a universal language and experience for mankind if we let it.  Some may not want to participate, and that’s fine, but it’s always a surprise to me how many people have ties of one sort or another to it, either through their own experiences or knowing someone who has experienced it in some form.  I’m glad I called tech support this morning!