Happenstance

Being a little hungry for some good Italian food, Joy and I went to Giuseppe's after work last night. We hadn't been there in weeks and the place was crowded but we got seated before all the tables were taken. While we waited to get our orders taken we were talking about how the cold weather was hanging on. Here it is mid-April and more snow is predicted for the mountains this weekend. I recalled that our friend Bob was probably getting itchy feet to scale Mt. Hood like he does year after year at this time. Derek and I summited with him in 1998 and 2001. He's a great guide. We first met him in 1998 (I think) when he and his wife Nancy hired us to do some carpet and vinyl in their house. We've maintained contact over the years. Excuses I'm not sure the nature of have kept me away from climbing these last few years. Nancy was killed in a head-on car crash in February 2005, just as we were barely breaking ground on our house. A young driver crossed lanes on the freeway just as she was about to take her exit home. That was obviously an awful time for Bob and his two girls. The funeral was packed, as Nancy had many friends from work and church and 4-H. She was big into animals. She and Bob and the girls had moved into a house with a bit of property so they could tend to all kinds of critters. So I told Joy that I was sure Bob wouldn't be climbing for a while with all the snow still falling. Maybe two minutes later, in walks Bob to join a large group at the table next to us. I heard myself say, "You've got to be kidding." We hadn't seen him for a year since just after the funeral when we had been planning a climb that never got off the ground. After a strong handshake and some small talk we decided this would be trip number three up Mt. Hood. I don't know about Derek, but I'm going to try to get up this year with Bob. There's never much planning with these things. It could happen next weekend.