To Appreciate Peace

“Finally! We have those bastards out of the trenches and on the run.”

“So you’ve heard the news then?”

“How could I not! It is everywhere!”

“Hey, hey Franck! Did you hear the news!

“ Oui! It is a good thing they are leaving. Enough of this war business in our backyards and I would have left!”

Artillery burst overhead of Saint-Mihiel as roof tops crumbled to the ground and the streets were torn up. Germans came scattering through the town as one after another were swept off their feet for an everlasting sleep by the bursts of artillery. A frenchman stood up out of anger not for the Germans, “Aye its the French Army for god’s sake! Hey! General! You’re not out of France yet! What’re ya doing blasting through a perfectly good town!”

More artillery barrages hit the town hard. And so the town threw back more insults and complaints at the French Army.

The barrages ceased to be and the town regained themselves and without a word went to work sorting through debris and burying the dead. Not Franck though. Franck got on his bicycle and made his way to his house and when he saw that what was a house was no more he kept walking, without missing a step. He gathered whatever of his he could find and carry, stuffed it into a rucksack and rode right out of town.

He rode on south to the high meadows of the Swiss-Alps and he made a camp by a lake where he found peace. Over the years his camp became increasingly more permanent and to the day he is still there and will never leave.

Closed Encounters with a Foreigner

Taking a vacation like true vacationers my family and I took our time to wake up and get some breakfast aboard the Monarch of the Seas, a large cruise ship, so by the time we were finishing up with breakfast the room thinned out very much and we were just about to do the same. But before we did so an important looking Norwegian crew member stepped over to our table and made some friendly conversation with us. He looked out the window towards the shore some distance away and saw sunny Southern California. But that was all he knew about his view. Because when he saw large cluster of white buildings covering a mountain ridge he saw snow covered mountains and asked, "is that..how you say..Big Bear?" We disagreed with him and said it was only a cluster of white buildings and to keep things simple, left out obvious details from a Southern Californian. Soon after, the conversation ended and we went our own ways.

For a while my family and I joked about it and imitated his question. Then it was forgotten.

Looking back on it now I can see his logic, or at least that the question was not a foolish one. Seeing white on a mountain side can look like snow very much, especially if you're from Norway. But most certainly not if you're from Southern California. And, we all know that Big Bear is not located on the sunny coast of California. But Norwegians do not.

I would not expect myself to be any more knowledgeable about Norwegian geography than that man.

Reasons

My most recent adventure took me to the elusive mountains of Nepal, the Himalayas.

Before any more information is given away I have to come forward and say that even though mountains and slopes and ravines can be called 'treacherous' it is merely describing the ordinary. Yes they're treacherous but no more than freeways and Walmarts on Black Friday! You gotta look at the positive things in life! Challenge yourself to be optimistic! If you think a mountain is treacherous you shouldn't go near it, and if you do that you won't ever learn to know the mountain so how could call you judge it? Now take a moment to regain your self-esteem and confidence if you lost any.

Back to my mountainous excursions.

I lied.

I've never been to the Himalayas. But I've walked enough ravines, I've swam enough lakes, and I've climbed enough mountains to confidently say, I know my mountains.

But that's not the point of this story. The point is to know what you speak and challenge others to it.

If you don't agree with whatever it is I write, challenge me! But know that I will defend my point unless or until proven otherwise.

That is my reason for this.