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Verdi's Requiem

April 24, 2007 at 10:57 AM

No longer willing to risk it on the packed ice that took the place of our trail, my hiking buddies and I turned back. At first, I gingerly chose each foot placement, but tracking downward through snow is much more difficult to control than climbing it. Steady footfalls became halting slides and haphazard rump-skidding. Losing my footing, I giggled. By the time I hit the mud, I was beginning to loosen up a little. Choirs sang:

“Dies irae, dies illa
solvet saeclum in favilla...”

I slipped down a chocolate pudding slope and broke the landing with my wrists, laughing. Now things were beginning to fall in place. Leaving my friends behind, I shook off my remaining reservations and ran headlong, aiming for the puddles along the way, skirting the tree roots and careening ‘round the switchbacks.

“Sanctus! Sanctus! Sa-a-a-a-nctus!”

The trees momentarily gave way to open sky and miles of land and still-frozen lakes below. The view is enormous. I picked up my pace and skipped a bit over stones. Violins began a chromatic descent:

“...repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam.
Quam olim A-a-a-brahae, Quam olim A-a-a-brahae,
Qua-a-a-a-m o-lim Abrahae promisisti et semini ejus.”

It’s big! It’s passionate! It’s air in the lungs! It’s violent and glorious and vibrant with life, swelling dramatically, lacking all timidity. I love the way it bites at life ferociously, as though it were tearing at a juicy hunk of rare steak. I love how it stretches for the heavens and descends to the depths of hell, earthy and ethereal all at once.

Were you to ask whether it was the mountain or the opera I describe, I couldn’t say.

---

I never did understand the whole natural high thing. Did you just imagine the singing or did you really hear it?
Every time I run, and most of the time when I'm doing anything at all, I hear music in my head. I hear all the parts, just as though it was actually playing. Sometimes it's annoying. Usually when I run or hike, the music sets itself to an appropriate phrase and loops, kind of like a mantra.

Man, that opera is better than techno.

What's in your head?
What's in my head when I'm running? God don't let them catch me, I guess. When I'm still, it's mainly hatred of music teachers.
Why are the music teachers after you? What did you do, molest some Paganini? Next time, doctor their Wheaties with Ritalin and they won't catch you.
Something I was wondering seriously is when you're out like that, what happens if you run into one of those big bears? I'd have one of those street sweeper shotguns loaded with slugs or something. I'd ride around on a horse all day and night keeping the bears away and become a folk hero. I'd have a sharp stetson hat and chaps with pants underneath.
Part of it is, bears mostly don't want to have anything to do with people, and will steer clear of them. I've only encountered one on a run so far, a young black bear, and he scampered up a tree like a large squirrel.

But every year we read about the latest maulings. Everyone knows to carry protection of some sorts. I try to hike in a group to put the odds in my favor. I'm currently shopping for a revolver, since I sold my Glock to buy my violin last year. Maybe a Taurus, titanium, something light and fail-proof. It would be basically like bear spray with a kick. You wouldn't expect to take one down with a revolver, but a well-placed blow might send them running. I hope never to have to take on a bear. My #1 nightmare is fighting bears. In my dreams, though, I can use my flying powers to escape.

There's this phenomenon where if someone chooses a weapon thinking they likely won't need it, then the weapon they choose may be insufficient if they do need it. In other words, if you knew you were going to fight a bear, you definitely wouldn't choose a pistol as your weapon.
The thing is, I do know what it takes to bring down a grizzly. Last year, it took twelve blows with high powered rifles on a 2-year-old that was eating our livestock.

A pistol might do the job point blank. I couldn't carry a rifle and run a trail at the same time, though. If you want to do that, you can be my hiking buddy any time.

I read a story about a former Green Beret who emptied a .357 into a bear's head after after it had chased him up a tree and was coming up after him. It had a minor effect. A real story in a published book, not some goofus on the internet. Bears are notoriously hard to kill. If I was planning to bounce a pistol bullet off his head, I'd be wondering which direction he would run :D
I met a man once who killed a grizzly with a knife. Stuck his arm down that grizzly's throat and let him chew on it while he sliced away with his free arm. Afterward, he got that bloody knife framed.

Our mayor was mauled by a grizzly and had to hold his eyeball in his head while he walked over a mile to the nearest road to get help. He had two guns, only the first one jammed and the second got pinned under his arm by the bear. He eventually got it free and unloaded it. The bear ran off and they never found it. The reconstructive surgery was pretty good. You can hardly tell where the toothmarks are.

Our governor announced yesterday that she picked the grizzly to go on our state quarter. The people voted for the dog musher. Oh well.

Emily - as I have said before,if you get eaten by a bear we will not forgive you! Be careful out there.