A Wonderful Summer, A Summer Full of Wonder

"I do know that one and one is two, and I know that if you love me too, what a wonderful world this could be," What a Wonderful World by Sam Cooke.

Is the summer slipping away, or does summer always slip away, remain fleeting, something we want to reach out and preserve, but realize that is forever impossible.

This has been my most enjoyable summer that I can recall in recent years. First and foremost my life and career are headed in the direction I desire. Last summer that was not the case, I was stagnant, so I made changes, and now, here I am. This has also been my first summer in Durango, my new home. And how beautiful it has been. 

I like it hot, I love the desert, and I love warm evenings, where one can step out into the night, under the stars, with little else other than a t-shirt and shorts. Many mountain towns don’t afford this luxury, but Durango does. Along with the warm nights, hot days must be endured, this was something that worried me a bit after living in Gunnison and Crested Butte for so long, but the truth of the matter is that I’ve embraced the heat. It has allowed my heart to be more open, I’m less inclined to be reclusive, more inclined to embrace it all.

The summer of Durango is full of the noise of the train, chu-chu-ing its way back and forth from Silverton, announcing its arrival with a loud, but not annoying whistle. The summer begs one to experience the river, tubing, or other more sophisticated forms of flotation. Tubing is my new favorite sport, and my enthusiasm is shared with fellow tubers, who whisk their summer dreams down the Animas, with lime green cans of local beer, serenading childhood dreams of simplicity, loving the water, our source of life.

Rock climbing, as always plays a central role in release and happiness, my climbing has been nearly exclusively on a chunk of overhanging limestone we call the Golf Wall. It humbles when I am feeling weak, and encourages the upmost optimism when I am at a hundred percent. Begs me to be stronger, to reach that ceiling higher of what I am capable of. 

I’ve managed to publish my first book, Climbing Out of Bed, I’m proud, yet also thinking about number two, as it is dreamed and built up, like the thunderclouds we’ve been blessed with in the latter part of this summer.

The world seems to be on a bit of a doomed rollercoaster lately, maybe it always is. But as I’ve taken risks to live my dreams, and to live life to the fullest, everything seems wonderful, not perfect, just wonderful, full of wonder to experience these opportunities.

I moved to Colorado thirteen years ago, and in many ways I’m just getting to know her. She’s blessed me with adventure, stories, lovely women, and the best and truest of friends. The goddess that inhabits summer will soon fade into the magical fall, I’m not looking forward, just looking, both inward and outward, but certainly thinking about the river, the road, the granite and the sandstone, the fruits of the trees, and the inevitable conclusion, and rebirth of it all.

Luke Mehall is the author of Climbing Out of Bed, and the publisher of The Climbing Zine.