Backpacking

"Our way is not soft grass, it's a mountain path with lots of rocks. But it goes upward, forward, toward the sun."
- Ruth Westheimer

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like falling leaves."
- John Muir

I used to backpack all of the time. I lived in one of the most beautiful places on earth and I explored quite a bit of it. Most of the time I went with friends, but when they weren't available I went by myself. It's hard to describe what the appeal is in putting everything you need to survive and be comfortable on your back and hike into the wilderness. But it's not comfortable. You sleep on the ground, you eat on a log, you squat in the bushes, and you are too cold or too hot. But....still...there is something about it that recharges the batteries. You get multiple doses of appreciation. You appreciate that you live in a place where wild things still exist. You appreciate that you have the health to hike and explore. You appreciate what our ancestors went through every day just to live. You appreciate the simplicity to just concentrate on staying warm and fed. And the when you get home...you appreciate modern society. A warm bed, a flushing toilet, a microwave, a chair with a back! I can rejoice in a hot shower for months after a good backpacking trip!

I just got back from a few days in the Manti-LaSal National Forest in Utah. I went with old friends (the best kind) and some of our kids. Me, Todd, Troy, Samantha, Katie, Jonah, Chelsea, Jake, Peter, Seth and Bogie hiked a few miles up a beautiful stream and found a campsite created just for us. We set up 6 tents and a hammock, a kitchen, a firepit, a hacky sack arena, a sink, and a bathroom and forced our children to listen to stories they've already heard a dozen times. They were very patient and laughed at all of the right parts and promised not to tell their mothers.

I think we are going to make this an annual tradition. Back to nature for 3 days and a renewed appreciation for civilization for the other 362!

You are invited.

50 Movies

Humans tell stories. We love stories. Cave paintings prove that we've always loved stories. Children crave stories and my own kids would make them up themselves if I wasn't around to tell them one.

I recently wrote about how our celebrations and cermonies create societal and cultural bonding. Perhaps this is even more true of our stories. We can describe somone's Achilles heal and everyone who knows the story of Achilles will know that this person has a hidden weakness. We can compare someone to Han Solo and we all know that he is a rogue with a good heart. If I describe someone as a Good Samaritan, you know that I mean she is kind and willing to help. Our stories bring us together.

Todays stories are told at the movies. At many points in our lives we are asked about favorite movies. People may be genuinely interested in the answer or we may just be looking for a good conversation starter. My problem is that although I do have favorites, I usually draw a blank when I'm asked. I've already made a list of some of my favorite quotes and now I've compiled a list of my favorite movies. You may or may not care, but as my memory starts to falter, I'm actually making the list for myself.

Some of these movies were critically praised, some might be critically condemned. Here they are in alphabetical order.

3:10 To Yuma (classic western with the good guy doing the right thing)
A Christmas Story (still makes me laugh)
Alien (my first really scary movie)
Anchorman (so funny!)
Armeggedon (silly world saving fun with a great sound track)
Band of Brothers (really a mini-series but the best war story I've seen)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (childhood memories of play acting the movie for weeks after I saw it)
Cast Away (triumph of human spirit...my favorite theme)
Cool Hand Luke (Paul Newman was the coolest)
Dead Poets Society (Seize the Day!)
Family Man (rediscovering what's important)
Field of Dreams (maybe it's a guy thing)
Forest Gump (who doesn't like Forest Gump?)
Fried Green Tomatos (this one's a chick flick...shhhhh....)
Gladiator (warrior saves the Roman Empire)
Glory (I know, I know, war = bad, but war movies = good)
Office Space (For everyone who's ever worked in an office)
Groundhog Day (great movie that I hear references to constantly)
Hoosiers (guys love a good underdog sports movie)
How the West Was Won (for some reason it made a big impression on me when I was a kid)
Independence Day (Humanity unites!)
It's a Wonderful Life (do I even have to explain?)
Lars and the Real Girl (the premise is too weird to explain and why I like it is too long to explain)
Leaving Las Vegas (we're all a little broken)
Life is Beautiful (a fathers love for his son)
Little Miss Sunshine (flawed family pulls together for the little girl)
Lion King (Disneys best)
Lord of the Rings (great adaptation of a favorite book)
Matrix (would you take the blue pill or the red pill?)
Million Dollar Baby (sports movie with a female lead)
Off the Map (you've definitely never heard of it but check it out)
Oh Brother Where Art Thou (funny, funny with awesome soundtrack)
Planes Trains and Automobiles (totally stupid and I can still laugh just thinking about it)
Planet of The Apes (I LOVED these movies as a kid)
The Postman (I amy be the only person that liked this movie)
Princess Bride (a much better book but a great movie anyway)
Rocky (just a few seconds of the song still inspires me)
Roots (another mini-series but it started me on a life long hobby)
Animal House (again...it's a guy thing)
Saving Private Ryan (second best war story ever)
Schindlers List (This awful story was told so well, I felt physically ill)
Spanglish (I can't explain it but it struck a chord in me)
Shawshank Redemption (on a lot of favorite lists and near the top of mine)
Star Wars (come on! This has got to be on everyones list!)
That Thing You Do
Tropic Thunder (funny, funny, funny, funny, funny)
Truman Show (I like Jim Carreys and Adam Sandlers serious stuff better than I like their comedies)
Unforgiven (much more than just a western, it shows that the lines are blurred between the good guys and bad guys)
Up and Wall E (combined my favorite Pixar films)
Wizard of Oz (I may have seen at least parts of it 50 times)

So there they are. I've limited the list to 50 so I'll probably come back to it and kick some off as I add new candidates. Some of these movies are similar and some are nothing alike but they are all on the list because they told a story I liked. Am I missing anything that I should reconsider?