Aspiring

Aching cold bites through my clothes
As step by step I conquer gravity
Battle raging on icy mountain face
While far below the world sleeps

Plunge, step, step; plunge, step, step
Endless seems the marching rhythm
Yet for just one slip.
An icy grave would call my name

Horizon burns with rising sun
It teases as a glowing ember
Till sky bursts to brilliant flames
Searing eyes and warming souls

Delicious burning pain in warming hands
Toes turn from wood to flesh again
All while the fight continues on
Plunge, step, step, goes the battle cry

Proudly staunch stands the icy face
Sun fuelled desire drives me forward
Below the world wakes, oblivious
To battles won and victories earned above

Strangled by life

Tramping in Stewart Island the other week I encountered some of the thickest scrub I have ever seen. It was so thick in patches we needed the pruning saw to make progress. It reduced us to a mere crawling average speed of 200m per hour! Eventually it forced us to bivouac in dense scrub.

As seen above it wasn't the most comfortable of nights. Wearing every layer I had, huddled under an emergency blanket sitting on my pack.

However what struck me most about the scrub. Was whilst it was fast approaching darkness, we were in scrub over our head. It surrounded you and inhibited nearly all movement without intense physical effort. It felt like life at times, everything so overpowering you lose sense of direction and it just feels like a constant struggle. However at one point I stopped when I came near a rock. Deciding to bash a few metres off track and climb it I was greeted by the most amazing view of the sunset.

I think so often when life gets crazy we need to find a rock to climb and sit for a moment. Gaze in awe at some of the beauty of this world. Spend some time with some good mates. Then get back into the tough grunt work.