September 6

Up there in the clouds with the glaciers hard glare and the upward curve of stone. On that know below me, grazing mountain goats packed together on the slope, humps of white against the vegetative green. Thanks to whatever mountain deities who reside here for allowing us safe passage these precipitous knife edges and around these glaciers. On all sides, immense volcanoes gouged in ice, St. Helens giving off visible puffs of steam and smoke. Rainier dominates the neighborhood. My heart lodged in the upper reaches of my throat empty space spilling down on each side coffee induced wobbly knees. How did I get here? This place of shock and surprise, this difficulty. By the sheer force of my own will.