Crazy, they call me.

My favorite cinematic monologue comes from the movie Repo Man.  In a seemingly random scene featuring two characters burning white clothing in a barrel, Miller (Tracy Walter) breaks a pulled-pork silence to elucidate on UFOs, time machines, missing persons in South America, and why "the less you drive, the more intelligent you are." Incredibly, it all comes together. But it would not have to, not right away, by the terms of Miller's philosophy of life  ...which he offers in the opening lines of this monologue;

 Miller: "A lot of people don't realize what's really going on here. They view life as a bunch of unconnected incidence and things. They don't realize that there's this like lattice of coincidence that lays on top everything. Give you an example,show you what I mean. Suppose you're thinkin' about a  ...plate of shrimp. Suddenly somebody'll say like "plate" or "shrimp" or "plate of shrimp", out of the blue. No explanation. No point in looking for one either. It's all poart of the cosmic unconsciousness."  

I was tempted to use this quote in response to a recent email I received from a reader in Japan. He wrote My Uncle spent like 10 years climbing all over the Antarctic as a Meteorologist for the USN. He's a totally hard core, decorated, retired, been there done that type. I asked him what he thought about climbing Vinson Massif for sport. He laughed and said "Your Buddy's nuts."            

Another reader wrote Dave, I read your blog last night and we wish you lots of luck and happy climbing, but I have to tell you I think you're a little crazy.    
  
I get this in person too. The guys helping me load a truck at Home Depot noticed my summit tattoos and asked what mountain is next. I told them, where upon they regarded me with a term that questioned both my sanity and the pedigree of my lineage. You yourself may have similar thoughts. While I welcome you to express them, it is unlikely you will better the colorful and often salty terms already offered. But to all I submit the following response, the response I replied to the reader in Japan with, a response doubtless shaped by the ranting of a strange man standing next to a burning barrel.
"Thanks for the concern. I really do appreciate it. Rest assured I take this thing very seriously and will exercise every caution. I'm kind of used to people telling me I'm "nuts." I spend a lot of word count trying to understand and explain what motivates High-altitude Climbers. I may have captured aspects of it, but sense it still eludes me. In the end, perhaps, I am the man who is looking for something he hopes to never find. Life should have unexplained forces, and our duty to them is an expression of faith in the greater energy that shapes our humanity."