Marie Lake

Mt. Hilgard and Mt. Gabb

from Marie Lake

08/06/08

Photo by Turkey Tetrazzini Pete

Every beauty which is seen here by persons of perception resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are come. Michelangelo

I see the granite rock on which I sat in this photo's foreground. Rough hewn, it made indelible imprints on my palms. While sitting there I ate my typical lunch fare: two tortillas, two mozzarella string cheeses, one inch of Gallo salami, a handful of M&M's and a few bites of a Power Bar. Half a liter of water, pumped and filtered that morning, followed. Much of it ran down my chin as I coughed and sputtered.

I then reclined, somehow relishing the granite's sharp points jutting into my vertebrae (not unlike when my son, Henry, massages my back with kitchen utensils), pulled my hat over my face and closed my eyes. The cheese had kicked in, and it was now impossible to resist. I was cheese sleepy. So I surrendered. And I slumbered.

I awoke foggy, not knowing where I was, but also not knowing who or what I was. Cheese will do that to you, especially the mozzarella varieties. "You snore!" a voice behind me said. I rolled over and noted a guy sitting nearby. He was skinny and dusty and had a sparse beard which highlighted his exhausted demeanor. My God, I thought, it's John the Baptist. He was screwing around with his camera lens and shooting me an irritated glance. "Get yourself, together, Jerome," he continued, "we've got to make Selden Pass. Quick. Before the rain starts."

"Huh?" I replied. Then it all hit me. Oh yes, it's Turkey Tetrazzini Pete, ruining another good afternoon nap in the High Sierras. I looked up at the sky. There were gentle cumuli coursing the skies like elderly gentlemen out for their paseo. There was plenty of brilliant blue peeking between the clouds. "Pete," I explained, "there is absolutely no threat of rain. For heaven's sake, it's like we've stepped into a Beatrix Potter painting. The clouds are fluffy, I tell you! Fluffy and harmless!"

An animated conversation followed, the details of which I've intentionally forgotten. I do remember, though, that Turkey Tetrazzini Pete reached Selden Pass before I did.