October 19, 2010
William - I agree with Susan. Two figures up there and one is Ria and one sure could be Mara's twin. Ria waves. I try to shout but the waterfall drowns my effort. The Mara not Mara knots the top rope as Ria pitches backward in a fast rappel and briefly disappears from sight.
Head bobbling with the extra weight of the ropes entwined in her hair Susan runs for the base of the fall. "It's Riaaaa!!!! We're going up" she shouts over her shoulder.
Her words slightly muffled by the ringing sound made by the water flowing over the paper thin peradam formations.
Ringing. Ringing in multiple pitch, a symphony, voices singing, calling...
Mara and I catch up to Susan as she reaches into her hair and removes a chock, a simple wired hexentic, and moves to place it into the junction of two of the large fissured egg structures. It immediately fractures and resembles the very sand and pebbles that make up the beach. She places a roller cam with similar result.
I pull her back as a peradam sheet smashes next to us.
"Riaaa!!! Go back! Don't Climb Down!!", I'm screaming... screaming.. but I can't see her; just a bit of the red climbing rope, threadlike so high up. The two shattered peradams formally in front of us resemble black voids; black holes, not merely a fracture of rocky structure but darkness sucking my hope.
Pulling the small spotting scope from my rucksack, I search the bulges and crevasses high above for a glimpse of Ria. I fear any moment this entire formation will collapse.
Those of you who have trained on frozen waterfalls in spring know this boundary of exhilaration and fear all too well. The sound of the water mixing with the strange ringing symphony heightens my sense of impending...
"Wait, I see something!" I spot a figure at the top of the formation. The figure that resembled Mara to the unaided eye appears briefly at the horizon formed against the water pitching forward into space and the blue sky. The figure seems not solid at all. An ocular lens effect? I seem to be looking at thousands of vibrating strings in the form of a person.
Somehow I know where the sound is coming from. The figure also begins the dangerous abseiling maneuver, hovering over Ria who has reappeared from the abyss of shadow and once again descends another of the egg shapes.
Somehow I know where the sound is coming from. The figure also begins the dangerous abseiling maneuver, hovering over Ria who has reappeared from the abyss of shadow and once again descends another of the egg shapes.
Susan exclaims, "somehow that sound is making the area around them stable!"
I look to Mara for something..confirmation?
Her arms are outstretched and she seems to be softly keening. Not a lamentation, nothing that human.
Susan - There he goes again, the incarnate of Mr. Peabody. Hummm, I giggled loudly to myself thinking about how Bill does sort of looks like that fictional dog who knew everything scientific on “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show”. I was lost for a moment reminiscing about Boris and Natasha…until I caught sight of Ria falling through the sky with wait a minute….MARA!!!
I screamed at Bill and Mara #2 or is it #1…”Do something, they ...you are going to crash!”
It was like a strobe light. Ria was there on the cliff with Mara #1 for a moment and then at the next flashing light they were both gone. Or it seemed. The sound of the boom caused some rocks to hurl down the mountain like an avalanche tumbling towards us!!!
I heard Bill bellowing and pointing his finger to his head and then to mine back and forth quickly! I jerked my brain back to reality. My hemp-locks started to unravel as I started to spin and rotate faster and faster gathering speed. Ornaments splattering around me everywhere, hoping they would not collide into Mara and Bill. My locks were lifting with the wind, propelling and twirling me faster and faster. I had to keep my feet properly anchored in the sand for fear I would fly up into the sky.
The mukluks held well. Proper footwork is vital to produce the centrifugal force necessary for this strong and long throw. With all the strength I could muster in my already fatigued muscles I threw the “chock” I had hidden within my hair into the waterfalls; my blue clad right glove adding to the power of the throw. After exploding the formation with my bull’s eye accuracy, my ears started to hear a sound and for the first time on this adventure I knelt down and prayed.
Ria - I landed hard on my feet. Above me I heard a cracking sound, an avalanche and I feared for my friends ... I had gone down feet first. Strangely enough I landed standing upright in or on what felt to be a woolen carpet. A bunch of blue squirrels rushed past me ... I thought, didn't I do this already? I looked up to see where they were scattering off to. I choked in my breath.
Before me stood some blue giant squirrel whirling his arms so fast I thought it had a thousand (!) screaming his lungs out, red tongue lolling (!) Suddenly I remembered, never make eye contact with raging animals & very gently, slowly withdraw back, a lesson my uncle grizzly bear observer had taught me diligently ... So, I looked down ... to find, to my surprise, I had landed in red boots ... Susan's red boots.
William - As Ria marvels at the sight of falling into the red boots, Blue disappears into one of the highest fractured peradam. Huumm Huuummm. What else?
Mara - When I received the letter, those months ago, I didn't take it seriously. A trek to "the unknown"... oh sure, a cruise ship spot on a well worn route for a feeble old woman... HA! Well, so here we are, where ever "here" is... and I'm really desperately in need of a hairdresser.... Susan is inspiring me to take a step onto the wild side. Maybe one of those green monkeys can help me, or was that the green fairy? Is this mountain anywhere close to a long growing season? What DO we/they grow here?
October 20, 2010
William - Blue reaches deeper into the rucksack. "Hum, huummm, hhhuum, humm...Ohhh...chocolate bars. With nuts!!!" Blue breaks off chunks from the thick bars and passes them to a scurry of his friends.
Susan - “So, it’s all about the journey” I whispered, chuckling to myself as I tossed another pistachio up into my disheveled hair. “I wonder it anyone will believe us when we get back home?”
“It doesn’t matter, does it?” chattered the tiny blue squirrel cracking open the nut as I felt his tiny paws massaging my scalp. As I listened to him crunching, I giggling uncontrollably thinking Ria, Bill and Mara will be flabbergasted again! I can see them all now, gazing blankly at me, shaking their heads speechless, wondering, just speculating what escapades will ensue next time!
Ria - I sighed as I saw Blue scurry off with my rucksack and.. oh nooo, the chocolate. That's not gonna go down well with animal rights, I thought, me unwittingly interfering that way with natural habitat and food - don't feed the animals - oh well. I'm laughing too. Cos I got photographic memory. I know that map he ate -the mongrel- by heart.
October 22, 2010
Mara - The Hunter's Moon reflects on the water... water so clear it shows every detail of the pool's bottom. (a) why is there a moon in a cave and (b) why is my back up against a rock wall and my toes at the edge of the shelf? We fell, Ria and ...I fell. Or rather, the rock flaked under our feet, then we fell. Seems that I've landed on a small outcrop, with just enough room to shrug off my rucksack and sit next to it, danging my feet over the edge.
I can see now that there is a fresh rock fall below, and above an opening to the sky. The noise has brought quite an abalcabal of squirrels to the upper edge, chattering, pointing, taking out and checking notes and then stuffing them back in their cheeks.
I'm hoping a rope will appear from above, along with a friendly face.
Ria appears below, looking quite take charge, striding around in those beautiful red boots. And who is
she talking to?
Reaching in my pack I find the glow stick, shake and wave it in the universal sign for "HEY, I'm here"!
Mara - The Hunter's Moon reflects on the water... water so clear it shows every detail of the pool's bottom. (a) why is there a moon in a cave and (b) why is my back up against a rock wall and my toes at the edge of the shelf? We fell, Ria and ...I fell. Or rather, the rock flaked under our feet, then we fell. Seems that I've landed on a small outcrop, with just enough room to shrug off my rucksack and sit next to it, danging my feet over the edge.
I can see now that there is a fresh rock fall below, and above an opening to the sky. The noise has brought quite an abalcabal of squirrels to the upper edge, chattering, pointing, taking out and checking notes and then stuffing them back in their cheeks.
I'm hoping a rope will appear from above, along with a friendly face.
Ria appears below, looking quite take charge, striding around in those beautiful red boots. And who is
she talking to?
Reaching in my pack I find the glow stick, shake and wave it in the universal sign for "HEY, I'm here"!
October 23, 2010
William - Ria's red boot glissade of the crumbling peradam formation was usually the type of stunt reserved for a Hollywood movie or an extreme sports exhibition.
Our group hug and manic laughter must have made quite the scene had anyone the presence to record it.
I suddenly felt exhaustion rush over me; a shadow obscured the moon and I sat hard on the sand.
The Pera-sand I realized. An entire beach made of the tiny grains of the waterfall formation that over eons lay shattered and building here at the waters edge.
How did it form? Where do these fragments come from? We made only a tiny pile of the minuscule grains making up this beach.
Susan's action with the throw of the chock had started an avalanche. Ria had essentially surfed the falling fragments in the red boots.
Thinking back to how Susan shattered the prism into good fortune; I realize how similar this situation is. Good fortune from shattering something? If I wasn't so tired I'd walk to the ship to review my journals. I'm sure I've recorded other instances of breaking, rending actions leading to great change, transitions or turn of events.
What had started as a brief exploratory; a climb intended to merely stretch our legs after the voyage had turned into a search and rescue.
I reach and sift the pera-sand through my fingers, my thoughts confused and foggy. The massive destruction of the formation yielded only a handfuls of grains; yet here is a beach stretching as far as I can see. I believe I hear an owl, hooting softly in the distance as I ponder the grains falling through my fingers.
I look to the three women. Ria mimicking a runway model in the boots, Susan laughing and tossing nuts to a small squirrel nestled in her hair. Mara now sitting on a piece of driftwood.
I'm about to rise to ask Ria about the figure I thought I saw. Were my eyes playing tricks? Didn't Mara or Susan see someone also?
As I stand, I see Mara looking to the upper reaches of the falls. For a moment I think I detect a glint of light.
Our group hug and manic laughter must have made quite the scene had anyone the presence to record it.
I suddenly felt exhaustion rush over me; a shadow obscured the moon and I sat hard on the sand.
The Pera-sand I realized. An entire beach made of the tiny grains of the waterfall formation that over eons lay shattered and building here at the waters edge.
How did it form? Where do these fragments come from? We made only a tiny pile of the minuscule grains making up this beach.
Susan's action with the throw of the chock had started an avalanche. Ria had essentially surfed the falling fragments in the red boots.
Thinking back to how Susan shattered the prism into good fortune; I realize how similar this situation is. Good fortune from shattering something? If I wasn't so tired I'd walk to the ship to review my journals. I'm sure I've recorded other instances of breaking, rending actions leading to great change, transitions or turn of events.
What had started as a brief exploratory; a climb intended to merely stretch our legs after the voyage had turned into a search and rescue.
I reach and sift the pera-sand through my fingers, my thoughts confused and foggy. The massive destruction of the formation yielded only a handfuls of grains; yet here is a beach stretching as far as I can see. I believe I hear an owl, hooting softly in the distance as I ponder the grains falling through my fingers.
I look to the three women. Ria mimicking a runway model in the boots, Susan laughing and tossing nuts to a small squirrel nestled in her hair. Mara now sitting on a piece of driftwood.
I'm about to rise to ask Ria about the figure I thought I saw. Were my eyes playing tricks? Didn't Mara or Susan see someone also?
As I stand, I see Mara looking to the upper reaches of the falls. For a moment I think I detect a glint of light.
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