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A review by laurla
Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship by Tom Ryan
"in the mountains atticus became more of what he'd always been, and i became less - less frantic, less stressed, less worried, and less harried."
"by refusing to subject atticus to less-than-favorable conditions, i kept myself safe."
"i thought about how such weather can strip a man of hope and his good sense and make him feel lonely and empty. i thought about how easy it would be to just sit down and stop moving through the wind and gloom."
"limitations are something we put on ourselves" this quote made me mad. it belittles the work i've had to do in ACCEPTING and respecting my damn limitations instead of constantly railing and fighting against them. because all the fighting did was exhaust me more. pushing made me crash, it didnt make me succeed in passing by my limitations. and crashing put MORE limits on me. so no. limitations are NOT something *I* chose to put upon myself. they are not something i accepted blindly, and they could not be overcome by sheer willpower. yes. pissed me off.
"walt whitman wrote: 'after you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, love, and so on - have found that none of them finally satisfy, or permanently wear - what remains? nature remains'. as is usually the case, my heart knew it before my head figured it out."
"the branches became clutching hands and swiping claws. it felt like we were walking through a sea of the dead and they were reaching out to make us one of them. it had been a long day, an din my weariness my imagination took over. no matter how much i tried to think of something to take my mind off the night and those clutching hungry hands, i failed. they were everywhere. i picked up the pace, but the faster i walked, the quicker those hands came at me: shadows darting, flailing, grasping, and closing in."
"courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not the absence of fear."
"so what religion are you?"
-"i dont have one."
"you have to have a religion if you believe in god. if you had to choose a religion, which one would it be?"
-"i wouldnt choose. who needs the middleman? i believe in god. isnt that enough?"
"but say god came to you and said, 'you have to choose a religion' which one would you choose?"
-"i dont think god would do that."
"but just say he did."
-"ok, if i had to classify myself as one thing, i'd say i was a pantheist."
the woman gave me a disgusted look and stalked away. a couple days later i ran into her boyfriend. he wanted to know why i'd been so rude to her.
-"hua?"
"when susan asked what religion you'd choose, you said you'd worship panties."
i had to explain that pantheism was a belief that god was in nature.
thats what the mountains were to me. they were my religion - the only one i wanted - and i found it in my struggles when i weas literally forced by my exhaustion to stop moving and look at my surroundings. you feel part of everything.
"'i didnt think you could do it.' he'd said. the words were not tinged with emotion; they were flat and matter-of-fact. but some arrows dont need to be dipped in poison to kill."
"he had faith when i didnt. faith had never been my strong point, but he was determined to help me with that."
"we sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains."- Li Po.
"god tells us we are supposed to have love in our life. he doesnt say it has to be between a man and a woman. seems to me atticus gave you the family you always wanted."
"he had accomplished what most people fail to do - change."
i'd always been curious about her first piece of advice on raising atticus: 'carry him everywhere you go, and dont let anyone else hold him that first month.' "that worked so well. i tell everyone who gets a puppy that they should do it. where does it come from paige?"
there was a pause on the other end of th ephone, as if she were wondering whether she really wanted to tell me, and then in a soft, vulnerable voice, she said, "thats the way i always wanted to be loved, tom."
"by refusing to subject atticus to less-than-favorable conditions, i kept myself safe."
"i thought about how such weather can strip a man of hope and his good sense and make him feel lonely and empty. i thought about how easy it would be to just sit down and stop moving through the wind and gloom."
"limitations are something we put on ourselves" this quote made me mad. it belittles the work i've had to do in ACCEPTING and respecting my damn limitations instead of constantly railing and fighting against them. because all the fighting did was exhaust me more. pushing made me crash, it didnt make me succeed in passing by my limitations. and crashing put MORE limits on me. so no. limitations are NOT something *I* chose to put upon myself. they are not something i accepted blindly, and they could not be overcome by sheer willpower. yes. pissed me off.
"walt whitman wrote: 'after you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, love, and so on - have found that none of them finally satisfy, or permanently wear - what remains? nature remains'. as is usually the case, my heart knew it before my head figured it out."
"the branches became clutching hands and swiping claws. it felt like we were walking through a sea of the dead and they were reaching out to make us one of them. it had been a long day, an din my weariness my imagination took over. no matter how much i tried to think of something to take my mind off the night and those clutching hungry hands, i failed. they were everywhere. i picked up the pace, but the faster i walked, the quicker those hands came at me: shadows darting, flailing, grasping, and closing in."
"courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not the absence of fear."
"so what religion are you?"
-"i dont have one."
"you have to have a religion if you believe in god. if you had to choose a religion, which one would it be?"
-"i wouldnt choose. who needs the middleman? i believe in god. isnt that enough?"
"but say god came to you and said, 'you have to choose a religion' which one would you choose?"
-"i dont think god would do that."
"but just say he did."
-"ok, if i had to classify myself as one thing, i'd say i was a pantheist."
the woman gave me a disgusted look and stalked away. a couple days later i ran into her boyfriend. he wanted to know why i'd been so rude to her.
-"hua?"
"when susan asked what religion you'd choose, you said you'd worship panties."
i had to explain that pantheism was a belief that god was in nature.
thats what the mountains were to me. they were my religion - the only one i wanted - and i found it in my struggles when i weas literally forced by my exhaustion to stop moving and look at my surroundings. you feel part of everything.
"'i didnt think you could do it.' he'd said. the words were not tinged with emotion; they were flat and matter-of-fact. but some arrows dont need to be dipped in poison to kill."
"he had faith when i didnt. faith had never been my strong point, but he was determined to help me with that."
"we sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains."- Li Po.
"god tells us we are supposed to have love in our life. he doesnt say it has to be between a man and a woman. seems to me atticus gave you the family you always wanted."
"he had accomplished what most people fail to do - change."
i'd always been curious about her first piece of advice on raising atticus: 'carry him everywhere you go, and dont let anyone else hold him that first month.' "that worked so well. i tell everyone who gets a puppy that they should do it. where does it come from paige?"
there was a pause on the other end of th ephone, as if she were wondering whether she really wanted to tell me, and then in a soft, vulnerable voice, she said, "thats the way i always wanted to be loved, tom."