Relentlessly Human

Reflections on Paolo Bacigalupi's "Navola"

Some reflections on the fiction of Paulo Bacigalupi

Day 21: The Wilderness Cathedral

Day 20: The Call to Return

I have been here before: yearning to remain on vacation forever, but feeling the inevitability of return, gathering on the horizon like a change in the weather.

Day 19: A Hard Reckoning

Maybe that is today's task, I think: to battle this demon, to face something in myself even harder than the mountain.

Day 18: The Art of Departure

Now I find myself contemplating what it means to intentionally depart a place. The easy thing would be to simply jump in the van and leave. I want better than that; I want a departure that both honors this place and safeguards it in my memory.

Day 17: Steinbeck, Lee, and the Chinese Railroad Workers

Day 16: Desolation Wilderness

Day after day, this trip reminds me: take nothing for granted. Experience everything. There is so much life to be had.

Day 14: The Art of Arrival

It was such a simple but deeply countercultural ritual, taking so much time to truly arrive in a place.

Day 15: Confidence, Endings, and Beginnings

I needed to decisively commit to an ending before I could reap the benefits of a new beginning. Once I took that step, things fell into place quickly.

Day 13: The Experiencing Self, the Remembering Self, and the Art of Weaving Time

A well-lived life thus entails hard inner work on two fronts: training ourselves to live more fully in the present, and becoming better custodians of our own past.

Day 11: The Anguish of Our Finitude

Even here, on a timeful vacation, Hannah and I must make choices about the life we want, the way we want to be in the world.

Day 12: If You Want Infinite Variety, Stay With One Place

If you want endless repetition, see a lot of different places. If you want infinite variety, stay with one.

Day 10: Rest at Sentinel Dome and Mariposa Grove

After our grueling almost-Half Dome day, we rest at Sentinel Dome and in Mariposa Grove.

Day 9: Half Dome (Almost)

Despite not winning a Half Dome permit in the lottery, we resolve to complete as much of the hike as we can.

Day 8: Yosemite and Friends

Friendship needs to be a pillar of the well-lived life. It is in dangerously short supply today, especially for men. This is one reason why my daydreams of escape into the mountains will never entirely satisfy. I want a life rooted not just in good places, but among good people.

Day 7: Routines and Departures

Just as we are settling into routines in Truckee, we leave the area behind for Fresno and then Yosemite.

Reflections on Beth Rodden's "A Light Through the Cracks"

I reflect on Beth Rodden's new memoir "A Light Through the Cracks: A Climber's Story", and what her and Tommy Caldwell's story has meant to me personally.

Day 6: The Earned Life, or, There Will Always Be Plumbing

Life never ceases presenting challenges, twists, and turns. There will always be plumbing. A well-lived life has to be continually earned, over and over again, moment by moment.

Day 5: Sketched Out

My wilderness journey thus far has been a tale of escalating adventure: arrival, settling in, hiking, rock climbing. The words have come easy. Today is different. It is a day of labored progress, creeping self-doubt, and persistence.

Day 4: Expanding Boundaries

After completing my first multi-pitch climbing lead, I reflect on fear and the value of breaking through limits into the unknown.