Hero

Some people idolize professional athletes. Some people idolize public servants. I find myself looking up to my kids more often these days. Their lives have changed dramatically since moving to Durango. They seem to just be more in tune to the simple things in their lives. Not only are they still young, but living in such a small "mountain" town has given them the opportunity to just sit back and enjoy the things in life that most of us tend to think of as "just things". "Things" like the wind blowing across the tops of pine trees. "Things" like the sound or the rive in our back yard. "Things" that some people see as noise, tend to be music to their little ears.

Bouldering in a little forest area called Sailing Hawks the other day, I realized that my son has "reconnected" to climbing. When my shoulder was trashed, all of us suffered in ways that I didn't realize. We all climbed a lot less. This doesn't seem like a big deal to most, but to a family that has made climbing a way of life, it is like stopping time. To a little guy that started climbing when he was two, it seems like his entire life has changed.

My kids, and my wife, have responded to the fact that I can climb more often by embracing the opportunity and loving every minute of it. Yesterday I watched my son go for a highball (pretty high off the ground with no rope) boulder problem. Of course he had lots of pads under him, and about 3 spotters. He didn't care who was watching, what the climb was rated, or what was going through his mind. He focused, sucked it up, trusted himself, and went for it. He is so young that he doesn't seem to realize the consequences of falling off such a high boulder problem. Most people think this equates to being naive to reality. Not me. I see it as having youth in your favor. You see, Kai doesn't have the fear that most of us have. He wants to do something, he puts his mind to it, and he goes for it. Obstacles???? His mind seems to rationalize obstacles as just another part of the climb that he must overcome. He is focused, determined, and is unwavering in his belief that he can do anything. Maybe it is just me but I know lots of adults that work their whole lives to try and get those core values back into their lives. So for that reason, my son is my hero. I just hope he can hold onto what he has.