{"id":9312,"date":"2020-06-25T20:46:36","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T20:46:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=9312"},"modified":"2020-08-12T01:34:44","modified_gmt":"2020-08-12T01:34:44","slug":"some-remembrances-on-better-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=9312","title":{"rendered":"Some “remembrances” on better times…"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

One such “remembrance” – about an adventure in old age<\/strong>: Hiking the\u00a0Camino<\/a>\u00a0in Spain…<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

I did my last post on June 6, almost three weeks ago. (“Random thoughts (on ‘Socialism,’ etc.<\/a>“)<\/em><\/p>\n

It started off with a note that we were then in\u00a0the \u201c12th full week of Covid-19,\u201d and that we also had to process the\u00a0George Floyd protests<\/a>. (Based on his May 26 death.)\u00a0<\/em>So I proceeded to remember back to a May 24 post, a “hark<\/a>\u00a0back … to\u00a0This time last year \u2013 in Jerusalem<\/a>!<\/em><\/strong>”<\/p>\n

Which\u00a0was<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0– as I noted – most likely “an exercise in\u00a0escapism<\/a>.” That is, a “mental diversion from unpleasant or boring aspects of\u00a0daily life<\/a>.” Another note: “Escapism may be used to occupy one’s self away from persistent feelings of\u00a0depression<\/a>\u00a0or general\u00a0sadness<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Or when the world as we know it seems to be “Going to hell in a handbasket<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

So here we go again. This time I’m\u00a0harking<\/a>\u00a0back to another\u00a0variation on a theme<\/a>, back to 2017’s post\u00a0Last year at this time<\/a>. Which in turn went back to\u00a0one year earlier<\/em><\/strong>. Here’s what I wrote:<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

\"StephenLast year at this time [June 2016]<\/em> I was training for a four-day \u201chike\u201d on the\u00a0Chilkoot Trail<\/a>.*\u00a0([D]eservedly known as the \u201cmeanest 33 miles in history,\u201d and illustrated at right.)<\/em><\/p>\n

I was also getting ready \u2013 last year at this time \u2013 to canoe 440 miles\u00a0down<\/em>\u00a0the\u00a0Yukon River<\/a>, in Canada.* That canoe-trip started three or four days after the hike, and took 13 days.<\/p>\n

This year at this time [2017]<\/em> I\u2019m in training to hike 450 miles in 30 days on the\u00a0Camino de Santiago<\/a>, in Spain, in September.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

I made it to Spain in September, 2017, and have now hiked the\u00a0Camino de Santiago<\/a>\u00a0twice<\/em><\/strong>. Once in 2017, from Pamplona, and again last September (2019)<\/em>, from Porto, in Portugal. (Where Port wine comes from.)\u00a0<\/em>And by the way, we’re now in our 15th<\/em><\/strong> full week of “the Covid.” (Also BTW, for an explanation of the asterisks after “Chilkoot” and “Canada” in the rehash above, see the full post.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Which brings up the fact that before the Covid struck, I’d hoped – this next<\/em><\/strong> September, 2020 – to go back overseas. Back to either Israel or Spain, for yet another\u00a0pilgrimage<\/a>. But it was not to be. Instead, my “adventurous brother” – from Utah – just came up with what could be the only viable alternative. The idea of canoeing five days or so down the “lower” Missouri River. (Basically retracing the\u00a0Lewis and Clark Expedition<\/a>\u00a0as they were heading back home from the Pacific, in the late summer of 1806, memorialized above left.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Accordingly I’d planned to do a “before” post, with preliminary information on the trip. But that will take some time, and a new post is\u00a0way<\/em><\/strong> overdue. So instead I’ll present this and other\u00a0 “Remembrance(s) of Thing Past<\/a><\/em>, in the form of 2018’s\u00a0Last year the Meseta, next year \u201cPorto<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

That post has a lot of details on what my brother and I experienced on October 4, 2017. We got into\u00a0Le\u00f3n<\/a>, in northwest Spain, “for our second one-day break after 20 days of hiking:”<\/p>\n

The good news was that once we reached\u00a0Le\u00f3n<\/a>, we had to switch from hiking to bicycling.\u00a0(We were running out of time.)\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0The bad news?\u00a0 That change just led to \u201ca different kind of hell.\u201d\u00a0(From Dorothy Parker\u2019s famous quote,\u00a0\u201cWhat fresh hell is this?\u201d\u00a0 In our case, it only meant a change in where we got sore\u2026)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The other good news? We were finally done with the\u00a0Meseta<\/a>\u00a0part of the hike.\u00a0That is, hiking through the “Meseta Central plateau<\/a>\u00a0part of Spain \u2013 and it\u2019s dry, dusty and hot. In fact, it\u2019s the part that\u00a0some<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0people recommend Camino pilgrims skip<\/a>.\u00a0 (If they want to be all ‘wussified.’)”<\/em><\/p>\n

So by October 4, 2017, we\u2019d hiked 250 miles from\u00a0Pamplona<\/a>\u00a0for 20 days, and got to\u00a0Le\u00f3n<\/a>.\u00a0<\/i>And aside from taking a day off\u00a0in\u00a0Le\u00f3n<\/a>, we rented two 15-speed mountain bikes. “With them we covered the remaining 200 miles to\u00a0Santiago de Compostela<\/a>\u00a0in seven days. Even though neither of us had ridden a bike in 40 or so years\u2026”<\/p>\n

Which is why it\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0surprising “when my right handlebar took out \u2013 smashed the heck out of \u2013 the side-view mirror of some poor slob\u2019s nice new car,” heading out of Leon. And in a second mishap I literally \u201cran my ass into a ditch.\u201d (See\u00a0\u201cHola! Buen Camino!\u201d \u2013 Revisited<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Those were some great times. (As shown at right.)<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

But getting back to 2017’s\u00a0Last year at this time<\/a>. That post spoke of the the idea of “65 being the new 30.” (Or as just checked, of\u00a070 is the New 50<\/a>. Whatever. I plan on being around a while.)\u00a0And<\/strong><\/em> on my then-just-turning 65, and so being eligible for Medicare. I noted that either way:<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of living left to do after age 60\u2026<\/em><\/h3>\n

Or after age 69 for that matter. And to help make that happen – and maybe get a date with Christie Brinkley – I did the posts\u00a0A Geezer\u2019s guide to supplements<\/a>, Part I and\u00a0Part II<\/a>…<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

\"Christie<\/p>\n

Or “Yours truly at 69” – come this next July, 2020…<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0Pilgrimage\u00a0– Image Results<\/a>. And no, that’s not a picture of me. The image goes with an article,\u00a0An Ancient Religious Pilgrimage That Now Draws The Secular (NPR)<\/a>, about the Camino: “A 1200-year-old European pilgrimage route is experiencing a revival. In recent years, hundreds of thousands of modern-day pilgrims have followed in the footsteps of their medieval forebears, trekking across France to the Spanish coastal city of Santiago de Compostela<\/a>.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Another thing about the “Chilkoot.” I use quote marks because – all things considered – it’s not really a “trail” at all, “it’s one big frikkin’ pile of rocks after another.” Except for the glaciers of course…<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: “Remembrance of things past.” That’s an alternative title to the novel\u00a0In Search of Lost Time<\/a>, “in\u00a0seven volumes<\/a>, written by\u00a0Marcel Proust<\/a>\u00a0(1871\u20131922).”\u00a0See\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

‘In Search of Lost Time’<\/i>\u00a0follows the narrator’s recollections of childhood and experiences into adulthood during late 19th century to early 20th century\u00a0aristocratic<\/a>\u00a0France, while reflecting on the loss of time and lack of meaning to the world.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hmmm. It seems that some things never change. For some<\/strong> gloomy people anyway…<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: “65 is the new 30.” There seem to be a lot of variations, but see my posts,\u00a0On RABBIT \u2013 and \u201c60 is the new 30\u2033 \u2013 (Part I)<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0On RABBIT \u2013 and \u201c60 is the new 30\u201d \u2013 (Part II)<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I borrowed the lower image from 2017’s\u00a0Last year at this time<\/a>. You can also see “her” at\u00a0the posts\u00a0A Geezer\u2019s guide to supplements<\/a>, Part I and\u00a0Part II<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One such “remembrance” – about an adventure in old age: Hiking the\u00a0Camino\u00a0in Spain… * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * I did my last post on June 6, almost three weeks ago. (“Random thoughts (on ‘Socialism,’ etc.“) It started off with a note that we were then in\u00a0the \u201c12th full week of Covid-19,\u201d and that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,11,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9312"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9312"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9547,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9312\/revisions\/9547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}