Yosemite reflections

I wrote this piece below while sitting by the campfire in the Sierra Nevadas, the night before we left to travel home. It was a time of reflection. A time of peace and fulfillment. Yosemite, in all of its glory causes one to give pause, give thanks, and to think about the future.

So, at 62 years old, it is all about legacy. I am no longer productive. I am not going to work this year. I have signed up for Social Security. I am now a burden to society. Am I going to slide out, let the government take care of me, or am I going to continue to do something that leaves a lasting and positive legacy? Is it for my children? My community? My country? My planet? My grandchildren? Is it that I want them to remember who Grandpa Norm was? What can I leave behind so that they, especially my grandchildren, can remember me as a productive person?

Sitting by the fire, in the Sierra Nevadas, at four thousand feet, the campfire does not distract from the stars above. The only noise is the occasional airplane at 30,000 feet. I am not so sure that John Muir would be proud of me. I would like him to be. He is one of those persons that I would most like to talk to, around this fire. Muir is right there with Jesus, John Adams, Madison, Lincoln, Gandhi, Mohammad, Buddha, Bush, now President Obama and many others. They offered insight and vision. One might argue specifics in regard to each of their ideology but each did/does leave a legacy.

Tonight I tried to be there with him, Muir. But the hulking RV, something I am sure he would disapprove of, lingered near me. I rode some of the trails he forged. I admired the valley, waterfalls and peaks that he described so well. We traveled, albeit by car, to a promontory point that was one of his favorite refuges. He hiked it. Thanks, John, for the legacy that you left. You enriched me. If one truly wants to leave a legacy it is not who you are or what you have. It is what you do.

It is what you do.

Thanks, John Muir