Whether or weather moments?
Ben Nevis is the highest peak in the United Kingdom. It is over 4000 feet of whale back ugliness above the town of Fort William in Scotland. To me, it is an unattractive mountain with no saving graces other than its height. By world standards it barely registers as a bump on the landscape, a ‘wart to trouble the mind’s eye’. But, of course, because it is the pinnacle of greatest height on an island with a population of over 60 million people, many people trek up it every year. I have been up this peak several times.
On one occasion, I had waited for a couple of nights in the Glen Nevis camp-site because the weather was so bad. I wanted to be rewarded with a view. The peak was shrouded with a damp mist for days on end. Finally I gave up on the weather and trekked up there anyway. I was up at the top early and there amidst the rocky plateau was a tent out of which appeared a young man. I asked him how long he had been up there. He had camped there for a week waiting for a sunny dawn which was yet to come. He wanted the perfect photograph. Occasionally waiting around for the perfect moment seems to me to be a waste of time. How many times have we put off doing things because the time is not right, the occasion is not there? Surely some of the best moments, the best ideas, the best events have been out of the blue, or the mist in this photographer’s case. Hesitation and care and thought and preparation are all excellent qualities when one is preparing for a presentation or planning an engineering project. To me, the young fellow should have taken his picture before the mist cleared. He should not have hesitated, waiting for a moment that did not come.
Some of the best moments of my life have been as the result of accident simply being in the right place at the right time. That’s how I met Irene!
So I felt for the young man waiting for the perfect dawn on the highest point in Britain. But—I felt that he could have gotten the iconic photograph that he wanted in the mist and mizzle. Sometimes, Dear Reader, a red sun in an early morning over a mountain plateau, has the beauty and aura but lacks the grit and the reality that a shadowy, early grey can give. If one is only satisfied by perfection then one risks doing nothing, there becomes no satisfactory outcome.
I had a wonderful Christmas. Sure and all, I missed what we all missed. There was, however, one marvelous moment which really stands out for me. I was sat in the dark in the early morning outside “Bean Around the World’ coffee shop, my usual haunt . I had my headlamp on and my coffee was by my side. I was oblivious to the outside world and focused on an interesting clue in my crossword. Suddenly, out of the gloom, Cory Mclean, an ex-colleague, appeared before me, a sort of ghost of Christmases past, resplendent in his ugly Christmas sweater for the last day of the school term. He presented me with a Christmas gift and, before I had time to mumble a confused thanks, he was gone. I opened the gift and found a box of Girl Guide cookies. It was a little gift but from a big heart. It brought a smile to my face and uplifted my whole day.
Sometimes, Dear Reader, it is not the magnificent sunrise that raises the spirits. Sometimes out of the dank, dark chill of a winter’s morning comes a moment that transcends. Cory’s taking time out of his busy day to stop and remember an old colleague was such a moment.
The young photographer, who sat for seven misty dawns on the top of his mountain, missed out. He should have cut his losses, taken his picture of the mist and the grey. He should have returned home, enlarged it, framed and dated it and called it something like “Seven days as the Highest Person in Great Britain”. Now, I believe, many years after the event, he could look up at his picture and smile at the memory of his youth, his passion, his hardiness. He could remember the young man that he was and shake his smiling head at the man he had become. He could look back at the difference with reflection and affection.
I will remember Christmas of 2020 for the box of Girl Guide cookies.
Happy New Year to you all and stay safe.
6 Replies to “Whether or weather moments?”
Yes indeed! To choose contentment is to choose a good life. Also I am compiling a list of words from your new book, that I have had to look up, thought it might amuse/ interest you 🙂
It does indeed amuse and interest me. Indeed I am ensorcelled and intrigued by what you are saying, Maree!!!??
Once again wise words….seize the moment as it will never come again……might have been a time of reflection for the young photographer on the mt top for seven days…….
and not a time waster at all!
You are right, Mary, he could have spent the week reflecting and, if he had done so, it would have been wonderful. But he expressed frustration and was eager to get down and out. Maybe if he had been 10 years older he would have been more able to relax into his situation. Hope that you and Syd are well and that you have had some good rain.
Like the young man. I to should have taken picture and cut ones losses. Learned from the reason of life. Perfection can never be achieved! What would you do if you achieved “perfection”? Theres no where to go! You’ve done it! Get the idea? Thank the lord for the grey days of life! Natures way of keeping ones feet on the ground. Life may be dreech, as we of Scots decent, are well aware. However, sun always shines, even if it is above the clouds!
Happy new year Peter and Irene. From the old country . Martin
Wise words, Martin. Thanks for reading.