Its only 25 days until I leave for India with 4 other lovely people to trek in the Himalaya for The White Ribbon Alliance with Charity Challenge.
Yesterday I took the dog off for the afternoon and did a moderately tough hike of 8.1miles in mostly ankle deep mud, which was hard work. My lovely Meindl trek boots have now had their baptism of mud and cow poo and are currently drying ready for me to scrub off the muck.
I need to do a decent challenging hike eack weekend now before we leave so my body isn't shocked and then refuses to cooperate.
I have started to take Ginko Biloba to ready myself for any altitude nausea and have bought up the local health food shop. I rummaged around in my clutter and found my travel vaccination card and now need to make an appointment with the quack to see which boosters I need and whether I'll need Malaria tabs or anything else. I'm a mild asthamtic and so will be taking my inhalers and also a bottle of Oxy Sorb ( A unique natural oxygen-enhancing compound that allows more oxygen to enter the bloodstream with each breath) which is also useful for jet lag.
I've managed to secure a few freebies for myself and my co trekkers and will need to get them off in the post in the next couple of weeks. I have also been sent some walking poles by Ian of Appliances Online .
I still need to buy some trek wear and am trawling the internet to look for the best buys. Our kit list suggests we take clothes for both warm and chilly weather as although its likely to be nice in the day it can get chilly at night. Considering I knew about this last summer, I seem to have done exactly what I do at Christmas and leave everything to the last minute!
However, I have got my visa all sorted ! Mind you that was at the second attempt as it was returned at first as I sent the wrong sized picture and I had my fringe in my eyes. So after reading the small print (don't send a passport photo make sure it's 2x2) and hacking my fringe with some nail scissors I now have my Indian visa. Hurrah!
So then its the final countdown and I can feel the excitement rising!
Yesterday I became a grandparent. My eldest son and his wife have their first child in their arms after a couple of years of loss, heartache and sadness.
I'm not going to write much in todays blog, no funnies, no sarcasm and no whinging.... its all about the precious gift of life and the best way to share it is in the photo below which I feel says it all :)
I can't believe how very quickly my life has been lived. Not that I'm about to pop my clogs or anything but I am now quite probably heading off from the summit to the bottom of the hill. The climb up seemed a fairly steady plod however I feel the climb down may be quicker than I had imagined unless I make sure I take smaller steps and don't rush it.
Whilst at the summit I have had an opportunity to survey all around me and come to some conclusions..... I'm not sure that I was paying as much attention to the climb as I should have and I'm not exactly in the place I thought I was heading to!
Whilst I'm sure that is a similar conclusion for many people of my age, it doesn't make me feel any better about it. It's only when one looks back can you see where the path became so difficult to walk along. If at the time I had just sat and gathered my thoughts and maybe broke out the packed lunch, I could have re routed myself. Interestingly I just continued the climb to the summit one step at a time and didn't look at the surrounding countryside.
So here I am at the summit and what have I achieved on my way up?
Well I have trained as a nurse, been married for 23 years, had three children, divorced, worked in Local Government, been a Christian and then a Pagan, travelled well, always been in employment, met and sustained friendships and lost friends and colleagues, outlived my parents, improved my understanding of the world, had money and had no money, been crazy and reckless, supported charity and campaigned against injustice, seen the birth of the mobile phone, been on TV, radio and in the press, written poetry and explored the world around me. But what have I got to show for that? What tangible evidence is there that can be held aloft for all to see? I'm not exactly sure.
As a child I imagined my future life and yet how come it has turned out so different? Its a bit of a gap between what I imagined my life to be like and the reality of it. I really need to stop at the summit a while longer and take time to consider the route down so that when eventually I do reach the bottom I have something tangible to leave behind. Not because I think it will be of great value to anyone else but because it will seem more worthwhile to me.
