Everest Base Camp
May 16, 2007
THINGS I MISS AFTER SPENDING SIX WEEKS IN THE SHADOW OF MOUNT EVEREST
My wife;
My four children and their spouses;
My 14 Grandchildren;
Our extended family (parents, brother, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews);
My friends;
My wife’s friends;
Sunsets over the Pacific Ocean;
Date Night with my wife;
That first cup of coffee that my wife brings me in the morning;
Reading the Los Angeles Times, the Daily Pilot and the Wall Street Journal while drinking my coffee;
Attending my Grandchildren’s sporting events, especially baseball, basketball and football;
Riding my motorcycles to Cooks Corner for a burger and beer;
Listening to my favorite music (iPods crash at Base Camp);
My Grandchildren making fun of what I say and what I do;
Everyone making fun of how I dress;
Sunday bike rides with Ollie;
Shopping malls (from a distance);
Visiting my son and daughter-in-law and their family in Northern California;
Grandchildren sleepovers;
Homemade tacos;
Family get-togethers;
Bringing Grandma Phyllis to family get-togethers;
Reading and sending emails;
Fright Night (scary movies) with my grandchildren;
Silently admitting that my wife’s common sense almost always trumps my logic;
Local, national and world news and sports;
Warm showers every night;
Clean clothes;
My wife’s home cooking;
Reading and watching TV from my easy chair;
Dozing off while doing the preceding;
Gingerly crawling into bed at night while my wife’s poodle growls at me;
Tiffany (the poodle);
Our recent home remodel;
Daydreaming about my next big adventure;
Fly fishing with my son;
Hiking with my friends from the Sierra Club and San Diego;
Jay Leno’s monologue;
Dining with my wife at El Ranchito and Gulf Stream;
Sitting on the back porch sorting mail;
Tossing out junk mail;
Paying bills;
Staying at our condo in Palm Desert;
Watching the squirrel at work in the tree through my office window;
Chili Johns Restaurant in Burbank;
America;
California;
Home Sweet Home.
No, this does not mean that I am homesick and want to come home. My enthusiasm for this trip is at an all time high and I can’t wait to get back up the mountain. But, I think about these things a lot, especially while resting at Base Camp.
Bill Burke