Here I go again

Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Montreal to Vancouver

Back in the 1980 presidential debates, Jimmy Carter would launch a spirited, thoughtful challenge to Reagan’s simplistic platforms and world view, only to have Ronnie dismiss him with “there you go again.”

Three years after my tripis interruptus, I’m at it again. My blogging has been sparse, we’ve had a spate of weddings, trips to England, Italy, Mexico, and Australia/New Zealand together, and a fair amount of sailing, hiking, skiing, and beach time. We’ve moved daughter Hope to Brooklyn and Portland Maine. I’ve taken a bunch of short bike tours, totaling about 50 days. Kept my medical toe in the water, precepting the resident clinic with some regularity. Maintained my board certification. Renovated the house. Done a ton of NYT crosswords and rarely missed Jeopardy. Even managed to take those semiannual sightseeing junkets with my homies we call Phizzing. Retirement has been great.

But something’s missing. As I mentioned a few posts back, the dream is deferred, and I can’t get it the sea to summit thing out of my head. I’ve just turned 70, the goal is still within reach, but just barely. Call it narcissistic, egotistic, solipsistic, or one of those other istics; I just gotta try, at least once more. Almost 400 people have done the 50 highpoints, but none from the sea. Pretty lame Guinness entry, but there it is.

I know it’s selfish, abandoning Jane for another 6 months. She’ll have a major kitchen/first floor reno to occupy her, and lots of chances to go to the beach or lake with her sisters and friends, but still. I really can’t justify it, just like I couldn’t justify the risk of climbing Denali 26 years ago.

The karmic gods are punishing me. My flight out of Montreal is delayed 2 hours, I won’t arrive at my B&B in Vancouver until after 11 (2AM my time). I’ve besmirched my “no fossil fuel” mantra by taking a jet, the most climately impactful way to travel. To do that I’ve had to shoehorn my bike into a regulation suitcase, avoiding oversized baggage fees.

Clever, fortunate the bike has couplers that make this possible, but MacGuyvering this contortion takes 4 hours at each end. I was up most of last night putting it in, will need to do the opposite tonight. Oh, and the forecast for tomorrow’s ride is a rainy headwind. Are we having fun yet?

Enough wallowing in self pity. I brought this on myself. Jane is being wonderful, holding goodbye dinners with friends and family, driving me to the airport despite her disappointment and misgivings, it was so painful to see her drive away. It will be a time, whatever happens. Let me cut this post short and try to get some shuteye on the flight.