Mountains to Climb, Questions to Answer

 February 20, 2023

   I must say, being a grandpa is quite the deal. One of my favorite things, is all the questions they ask. My first grandchild, Weston Allen, wanted to know:

  "Grandpa, did you ever climb a mountain?"

Weston and Uno waiting for the answer

      This tickled me to no end. I laughed and then said, "Funny you should ask."

Deena C. on Castle Rock

   Many years ago my father lived in So-Hi Estates on the edge of Golden Valley, outside of Kingman, Arizona. One day, long before you were born, my kids and I decided to climb to the top of Castle Rock, the tallest and grandest geographical outcropping in the area. This is a photo, above, I took of your mother as we neared the very top.

Thomas Charles Mountain Climber

   Here's a photo of your uncle, Thomas Charles. also taken at his grandfather's spread in So-Hi Estates northwest of Kingman. That is Castle Rock in the upper left corner. The same mountain we all climbed together long before you were born.

   But that's not the highest mountain I ever tried to climb.

A Mountain to be moved

   This is a photo I took in September of 1999 in Stillwater, Oklahoma when Steve Griegert, center, the co-owner of True West sold us the magazine and all the back issues. This is a magazine I read when I was your age.

   And this, Weston Allen, is a mountain I am still climbing.

“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen.”

—Rene Daumal

Epilogue

   Weston asked his mother: "Does Grandpa Ha Ha always mix his metaphors?"