Holy Saturday Prose-Poem by Carolan

Carolan wrote this to me in an email:


Here is what I wrote on Holy Saturday. 

I just watched the most beautiful moon rise over the valley, edged by the mountains that hide the vastness of The Bob Marshall from the curious masses.  I stood under a huge Ponderosa, feet mounted in crusty snow, hands pocketed, eyes reverent to the hungry moon.  He devoured clouds on his proud rise, bit one right in the middle, a snack en-route to all things miraculous.  

"Jesus Christ," I whispered in wonder, and I remembered, hey, that's right, Jesus Christ rises from the dead in a few hours, just like this magnificent moon, and there will be a curious light in the darkness and all shadowy things will take on a grand beauty to stage the rise.  

Let me glow in the light of the moon, the God, the Savior, the love and the soul of the mountainous sky.  

Too much?  But my heart overflows.

That's all!  As I read over it, it seems a bit dramatic ... it was glorious.  Right behind the Rich Ranch. 

The Yurt atop Morrell Mountain in Montana

My daughter was able to use a yurt near the top of Morrell Mountain in Montana during her recent training in avalanche rescue work with the Aerie Backcountry Medicine group. She was not able to sleep in the yurt, but could use it to warm up and store and dry out equipment.

Morrell Mountain is maybe 15 miles or so west of Seeley Lake, the home base for the winter training Carolan is taking. They walked on snow shoes over 2 days up Morrell Mountain (which is about an 8000 foot mountain) and camped in 8-10 feet of snow for 2 or 3 days. The yurt (see www.yurtski.com) offered some warmth and comfort--but not too much to spoil the Aerie trainees! They couldn't sleep in the yurt, after all--they were in tents outside. It's amazing to me that this yurt can still be standing with the heavy snowpack on Morrell Mountain!

When I think of yurts, I think of the nomads living on the steppes of Central Asia; I think of the Mongolian "ger" homes--not of a mountain shelter in Montana. But there you have it!

Images of Carolan and Friends Climbing Mt. Morrell

I borrowed the following 3 images from the Aerie Blog (hope they don't mind!). Here is the link to the blog: http://semesterwildermed.blogspot.com/. The entry was posted March 22 or 23, 2012. The Aerie Backcountry Medicine group was hiking from The Rich Ranch, near Seeley Lake, Montana, to Morell Mountain, on the southwest edge of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The climb was demanding and, as you can see, very steep in places. The Aerie students, including my daughter Carolan, were practicing avalanche rescue.

Incredible Photos of the Aerie Avalanche Rescue Course in Montana

The March 22 blog entry for the Avalanche rescue course that my daughter Carolan is taking in Montana features some extraordinary photos. To see them use this link: http://semesterwildermed.blogspot.com/

I will borrow one or two of their photos (right from their blog).

Carolan is wearing a greenish jacket in both photos.

Carolan Fixing Dinner at Rancho Mastatal, Costa Rica

There's a nice photo of Carolan working with the Aerie Backcountry Medicine group, fixing dinner at Rancho Mastatal, Costa Rica. This and other photos are on the Aerie blog at this address:
http://semesterwildermed.blogspot.com/ (This is the Aerie blog entry for February 21, 2012.)

Carolan and "Aerie Backcountry Medicine" Training in Costa Rica

Below are some photos from Aerie Backcountry Medicine and their semester-long training program in wilderness emergency medicine. This month Carolan and her colleagues are training at Rancho Mastatal in Costa Rica. Mastatal is not really near anything. The closest town, Puriscal, is a pretty good jeep ride away. As I understand it, Mastatal is in the tropical rain forest, between San Jose, the capital, and the Pacific beaches. The distance in miles is not great, but I'm thinking it takes 2-3 hours on gravel roads to get from San Jose to Rancho Mastatal, and probably another hour or two to get to the Pacific beaches.

I found the following pictures on the great blog the program has at this address: http://semesterwildermed.blogspot.com/
I hope they don't mind me reproducing the pictures here.

Top photo shows the jungle-like landscape of Rancho Mastatal. Middle photo shows Carolan's colleagues in the program. Carolan is in the middle row, left, seated. Bottom photo shows Carolan checking the airway of a colleague who is playing a role (I think!). Either that or she's doing some emergency dental work! I told her--don't do any surgery until the program is over!!

New Poem for My Daughter Carolan

The Trip to the Airport

I awake at 3:45 in the morning,

Call to you in the dark, this

Crystal clear late January stars and cold--

We drive the 73 miles to the Akron-Canton airport

Shadows dashing in front of the car as we speed along,

Some sort of animal or a phantom of my sleepiness and fears.

An hour and a half later we enter the airport,

And after a final inventory—passport, tickets, driver’s license, colónes —

You go through the astonishing security procedures . . .

            And then you are gone from my view

And my ability to protect you.

I pray to every saint who will listen:

            Christopher, Francis of Assisi, Patrick, Bridget,

And to your grandparents, gone to the other side:

            “Keep her Lord like the apple of your eye,

            Shelter her under the shadow of your wings.”

I imagine the frantic stopover in Atlanta,

The scrambling to a new plane,

The hope that the checked backpack makes it

And think of you six miles above the Caribbean

Seeing only the vast blueness and at times specks and streaks of ships

Making their way

As you are making your way to Costa Rica, Rancho Mastatal,

Adventure, learning, new companions, new challenges--

You,

Like your Mom and me,

A bit on edge as you wonder what’s to come.