I feel our society has reached a collective state of nomophobia, a fear of being out of electronic communication. Think about it. What's the first thing you do when you get home or have a free moment? Often I find the answer is checking e-mail, phone messages or your social network of choice. We fear missing something or being left out of a virtual conversation. But can you really blame us? It's our nature to be social animals. We just happen to have the ability to have a conversation with anybody at any time now. The issue is there isn't a schedule for this anymore. It percolates into every moment of our daily routine. In the past you could anticipate communication at certain times. Communication is so interconnected into our lives now, which ultimately will advance our culture and our ability to do more with less time. In the same breath you can't help but mention the anxiety this puts on many and the distraction from productivity it gives some.
In short, we still do stuff. We still work, have to drive, play with our kids, go out with friends, work on our houses. This 'stuff' is full of many more interruptions than before, which transitionally can be rough but in the long run we adapt. We develop methods to more quickly process information and alter our attention from one thing to the next. Interruptions are something we can deal with. What we have trouble with is the insecurity the expectation to constantly be available creates. While we're taking part in other activities we wonder what else is going on in our virtual world. These thoughts can create anxiety if an activity takes too long or we suspect we're "missing out". What if we actually cut ourselves off from communication for an entire day. I wonder if this would increase anxiety or create peacefulness akin to meditation. Either way, we should all just relax and free ourselves from the pressure to always be in touch. I'd rather have quality over quantity any day.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Nippletop et al
Rochester Winter Mountaineering Society
Colvin, Blake, Nippletop, Dial
Feb 25-27, 2011
Leader: Greg Buzulencia
Climbers: Neal Andrews, Dave Wideman, Gregory Chambers
Short story: An engineer, graduate student, nurse and event planner walk into the mountains. They climb and head out the following the day. My apologies to those anticipating a joke, I couldn’t come up with a witty enough candidate.
Long story: On Friday February 27th, 2011 Dave and I left Rochester after a quick and heavy snowstorm. Most of my coworkers didn’t even make it into work that day, but by the time we left the roads were clear and the skies sunny. We stayed the evening in what is now a posh Maple Leaf Motel after many renovations over the years. I might even recommend taking it off of RWMS’ list, were it not for the discounted rate the proprietor offers us. I’m genuinely concerned that Marriott will want to buy out this property to stake their claim to the jewel of the Adirondacks, Schroon Lake.
Saturday morning Dave and I converged on the other half of our party, Greg and Neal, at the Noonmark Diner. At 6:30 in the morning Neal is reminiscent of Hans Solo in the Star Wars cantina scene where he slyly informs Luke Skywalker he can take him to the places he’d like to go (and perhaps some places he’d prefer to miss). Greg C. was eager to continue a week long sabbatical from graduate work to climb mountains with Neal. Dave and I just wanted to consume calories for the trek that promised not to lack in vertical movement. Hitting the trail around 8AM, we made it up to the campsite on the Gill Brook Trail after Dave led a blistering pace up the Ausable Rd. Lucky for our group we had a handful of enthusiastic trailbreakers ahead of us, stomping down the 15” of snow that fell Friday. We arrived at Colvin’s summit exhausted, but happy. Greg and Neal felt fresh and continued on to Blake, while Dave and I headed back for a little R&R at the campsite.
Sunday morning we awoke to 4 more inches of snow and typical winter temperatures in the 10 degree range. Dave decided he wanted some time alone with our campsite (we suspect he made friends with the local gaggle of pine martens that encircled our campsite). Greg C., Neal and I slowly but surely slogged our way up Nippletop via Elk Pass, kicking away at 20” of untracked snow. Neal enjoyed the trail breaking so much he insisted on leading us all the way up Nippletop. Once atop the peak the decision was made to float downhill along the ridgeline to Dial. This ridge was an enjoyable hike with snow drifting 3’ feet plus in spots, making a soft cushion for our moderate descent. Once atop Dial we decided to navigate our way to the campsite via bushwhacking. We gleefully greeted a couple grumpy French Canadians on our descent toward Bear’s Den before darting off into the woods. Our trajectory took us within 100 yards of the campsite and we soon rejoined our foursome to head back to for the weekend. We arrived back at the car in time to eat a relaxed dinner before parting ways.
Colvin, Blake, Nippletop, Dial
Feb 25-27, 2011
Leader: Greg Buzulencia
Climbers: Neal Andrews, Dave Wideman, Gregory Chambers
Short story: An engineer, graduate student, nurse and event planner walk into the mountains. They climb and head out the following the day. My apologies to those anticipating a joke, I couldn’t come up with a witty enough candidate.
Long story: On Friday February 27th, 2011 Dave and I left Rochester after a quick and heavy snowstorm. Most of my coworkers didn’t even make it into work that day, but by the time we left the roads were clear and the skies sunny. We stayed the evening in what is now a posh Maple Leaf Motel after many renovations over the years. I might even recommend taking it off of RWMS’ list, were it not for the discounted rate the proprietor offers us. I’m genuinely concerned that Marriott will want to buy out this property to stake their claim to the jewel of the Adirondacks, Schroon Lake.
Saturday morning Dave and I converged on the other half of our party, Greg and Neal, at the Noonmark Diner. At 6:30 in the morning Neal is reminiscent of Hans Solo in the Star Wars cantina scene where he slyly informs Luke Skywalker he can take him to the places he’d like to go (and perhaps some places he’d prefer to miss). Greg C. was eager to continue a week long sabbatical from graduate work to climb mountains with Neal. Dave and I just wanted to consume calories for the trek that promised not to lack in vertical movement. Hitting the trail around 8AM, we made it up to the campsite on the Gill Brook Trail after Dave led a blistering pace up the Ausable Rd. Lucky for our group we had a handful of enthusiastic trailbreakers ahead of us, stomping down the 15” of snow that fell Friday. We arrived at Colvin’s summit exhausted, but happy. Greg and Neal felt fresh and continued on to Blake, while Dave and I headed back for a little R&R at the campsite.
Sunday morning we awoke to 4 more inches of snow and typical winter temperatures in the 10 degree range. Dave decided he wanted some time alone with our campsite (we suspect he made friends with the local gaggle of pine martens that encircled our campsite). Greg C., Neal and I slowly but surely slogged our way up Nippletop via Elk Pass, kicking away at 20” of untracked snow. Neal enjoyed the trail breaking so much he insisted on leading us all the way up Nippletop. Once atop the peak the decision was made to float downhill along the ridgeline to Dial. This ridge was an enjoyable hike with snow drifting 3’ feet plus in spots, making a soft cushion for our moderate descent. Once atop Dial we decided to navigate our way to the campsite via bushwhacking. We gleefully greeted a couple grumpy French Canadians on our descent toward Bear’s Den before darting off into the woods. Our trajectory took us within 100 yards of the campsite and we soon rejoined our foursome to head back to for the weekend. We arrived back at the car in time to eat a relaxed dinner before parting ways.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)