Image courtesy of http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/matthes/john_muir_glacial_theory.html
John Muir is one of my favorites. He was an amazing conservationist and lover of nature. He was also filled with quotes that resonate with me. Probably my most favorite is the title of this post, “The Mountains are Calling and I Must go.” Whatever it was he meant by this, it is part of me. Much like the title to Irving Stones book “Men to Match My Mountains.” The book is about westward expansion and an interesting read but the title is magical.
Just in case you couldn’t tell, I love the mountains. I have posts about fishing and there will be more about the outdoors and being in them. John Muir may be famous for the mountains of Yosemite in California but the Wasatch mountains here in Utah call to me.
I have been spending time in the mountains since I could walk. I have grown up (partially) in tents and surrounded by trees. There is a certain peace and awe that you can get in the mountains that you can get nowhere else.
In the most excellent and in my top 3 movies of all time is the film, “Jeremiah Johnson”. It’s the story of a man who left civilization in the early 1800’s for the mountains. He left to get away from the politics and city life and make his fortune as a trapper. I have always wished it could be more of a tutorial than just a movie, but I like my computer too much. One of the characters in the film has a line, “You can’t cheat the mountain. Mountain’s got its own ways.” I think of that every single time I am in the mountains and I am trying to manipulate my environment. The mountain will make me conform, no matter what I throw at it, in the long run, the Mountain will prevail.
A long introduction to get to this, I can see the mountains from my front door, but they are 20 miles away. If I think of my blog as a mountain, it is right here at my desk. My Blog is calling and I must go. I am sure my wife loves that. “Not right now, I have to write” is not as eloquent a quote but nonetheless true. There are obstacles to climb when getting a blog up and running. There are ways that I want to do things but can’t; forced to conform with HTML code and PHP limitations.
As a blogger I am heading out into a mysterious and only partially explored territory. Like the mountains in 1800 there is not much known to the general public about blogging. The term is out there. The basic idea is in most peoples heads, but few know the intricacies and the path to blogging success.
I am not interested in climbing mountains to reach the summit. There are too few places to fish up there. I am looking to get to the top of the blogging mountain though. I have been running for 2 solid months now and the ever elusive 3rd month is dwindling fast. That third month is not the summit though, it is just a plateau with a little shop that sells water and local flies. Wait that is the real mountain, my plateau sells e-books.
My blog is calling and I must go should be on a t-shirt. Nobody steal that there may be shirts at that plateau shop as well. My blog is calling and I must go is kind of a mantra that has been in the back of my head while the Mountains are in the front. My blog is a huge deal to me right now. I am nurturing and growing it fairly well and I can only hope that it will grow and strengthen to a point where it is as solid and timeless as one of those mountians.
The Mountains are Calling and I must go. I have Cabin Fever like crazy right now, If it wasn’t so snowy, I think I would be up there tomorrow. What is really going to be interesting is what kind of posts I end up with from spending time in the mountains with only my digital recorder…
Later!
