(Original blog post from here)
Because I have come to love the mountains so much, sometimes I find myself wondering how it would be like to love the mountaineer. I will imagine him in a mountain setting because no matter how we try to take the man out of it, we can never really take the mountain out of the man, so to speak.
He is quiet and deep because the mountains trained him to be. One only wonders what goes on in his head while he trudges up the mountain. It may come to a point when you wish you have ESP. You’ll be glad to know that he’s quiet not because he’s shy, he just thinks it a waste of time to talk so much when there’s little to say. In going up the mountains there’s really not much talking sense, as you’re both busy trying hard to look cool amidst all the sweating.
I suppose he’ll be brusque at times too, not because he is by character but because he has to be. He’s aware that he’s with others just like him. He is after all a mountaineer. A manly man. And it’s embarrassing–not to mention dangerous–to prance about in the mountains just so you will notice him more among the others.
You can try to be witty and play word games with him but don’t go so far as to become too bookish. Because when you do that he’ll just shrug at the wind and go about his own way. You’ll have to understand that if he were up to that he’ll be in a library instead of a mountain. And when it comes to music, don’t expect him to sing along with your Josh Groban or Enya. Mountaineers won’t like climbing up as if it’s the middle of Holy Week. Just listen to your soul music with ear phones and keep to yourself. However you may play Alternative Rock a little more loudly. You’ll find your mountaineer will be singing along with it, sometimes head bang a little.
There will be times when he’ll come off as aloof and you may feel as if he’s abandoning you when he pushes off ahead from everyone else. He’s not being rude and he knows fully well that the trail is easy for you or he’ll stick to your side like glue. He wants to keep ahead so he won’t get left behind. One may think the mountaineer never gets tired, but he does. He’s only human like the rest of us after all. And when he’s ahead, he rests ahead and he’ll get the chance to take care and fuss over you when it’s your time to rest by his side, him looking so cool having rested already. He’s just being smart. The more intriguing he becomes in your eyes then, especially when you’ve finally noticed the heart he’d carved on the tree you’re both resting in.
He also likes his pride where it is and he’s the proudest of all so his steps are just as calculated. Living, to him, is like rock-climbing. One must know when to leap, know which rock to best hold on to. To be with the mountaineer will be like living in a safety bubble because he’ll do his mighty best to keep safe what is his. And you’ll love him for that.
To the mountaineer, life is always one big adventure and every day is a climb. He’ll be cautious as hell of everything and everyone too. When he’s not a hundred percent sure of something, he keeps away and observes and observes, and observes some more you’ll think he’s psychotic. In truth, he’s just taking his time to make decisions. He can’t afford to make mistakes. One wrong move can send you and him both tumbling off the mountain and he doesn’t want that. Not at all.
He may seem difficult to understand at first but it’s only a mask. He’s just a simple man who enjoys the simple things, like cooking with small fire, eating food straight from the can, and marshmallows. No, he’s not gay, it’s just the way he is and you’ll like him more for it. Sometimes he likes gin, but most of the time he’ll be happy to skip it when he see that you’re there to keep him warm throughout the night just by sitting next to him.
As much as we want to delve more into the things that are easy to love about the mountaineer, to love one must also be hard sometimes. I think of only one that stands out though:
The mountains being his first love, you’ll have no choice but to let it be. It’s in him–heart and soul, and you’ll accept him the way he is, even though when he looks your way at the summit, you’ll know that there will be times when he sees right through you and sees the beauty of everything else…but you.
