Points of Contact

         It was time for another reunion with old Army friends and I was really looking forward to it. When I excitedly mentioned the upcoming trip to an acquaintance he said, “I guess you get together and tell those same old war stories.”

         I said, “Actually we were in Germany the whole time.”

         He said, “Wow, I’ll bet that was scary.”

         As usual we were going to gather at Gordie and Kay’s house in Utah. Not only is it a beautiful place and location, but they know how to entertain, plan, organize, cook and other stuff I have always intended to try.

         In the Army we had played a lot of golf together and had continued to play at the reunions, but lately my weak game was becoming much weaker so I told them that despite recent lung surgery I thought I would do some light hiking instead. I have to admit I was disappointed at how accepting they were of the news.

         Gordie said he would plan an easy hike for me to take alone the next day while they played golf. He went over the map of the hike carefully but maybe because I kept asking the same questions he didn’t seem confident in letting me go alone. I assured him I would be fine, but on the way down the next day I missed the turn home and ended up lost. I spotted a workman, showed him Gordie’s address and asked if he could point me in the right direction. He said that he was about to leave and it was on his way so he would just drop me off. As I was getting out of the truck Gordie came running from the house yelling, “Dammit, I knew it, I just knew it. Well never again alone.”

         When he described the next hike Carol, wife of one of the other guys, thought it sounded so good she would like to go. She obviously had not planned ahead to hike because the only shoes she had to wear were designed to be worn just around the house. Gordie said the hiking would be a little more challenging but would be worth it because in addition to the normal spectacular scenery there were hieroglyphics.

         When we got to the park we discovered that the entrance had been closed to traffic so we would have to hike in. The trail was not steep, just sand and weeds, but we were required to go through two barbed wire fences. The wire was strung so tightly that two people were really needed to hold it apart for the third person. They held it for me but embarrassingly I discovered that I didn’t have the strength to help pull it apart. I tried a few times but they finally just had to work themselves through, made even more difficult for Carol who for some reason had decided to bring her purse. I don’t know if it had anything to do with my inability to help, but as we walked toward the second fence they would occasionally put me in the lead, then veer off behind me and holler, “where are you going?” I wouldn’t have thought much about it except after each time they did it they appeared to be giggling.

         After “we” made it through the second fence and I got a glimpse of the hiking area I was feeling what I can only describe as worried sick. My concern was compounded by the absence of other hikers. There were no paths, just large rocks to be climbed up and over. I was made even further uneasy when Gordie said there would be some places where we would be required to use three points of contact, meaning we would need to use a hand to assist our movement. (As it turned out, I seemed to be in continuous four point situations.)

         As we were leaving the first hieroglyphics location on the way to the second, I spotted what I was sure was an old cabin at the top of a hill. I pointed and said, “Carol, look. Do you see that cabin at the top of that hill?”

         She looked for a few seconds and said “Yeah, I think I do.”

         Then I said, “Gordie, look up there at the old cabin.”

         He said, “I don’t see anything.”

         “Move over this way.” I told him.

         “No, still nothing.”

         And then I realized from the look on his face what he was thinking: “I knew that they had lost their strength, now they’re losing their minds.”

         When we were resting after looking at the second hieroglyphic and Gordie was telling us that the third one was the best and I was wondering if I even had the strength to make it back out, I said to Carol, “If you make it back tell my wife I put up a good fight.”

         She said, “How about pretty good?”

         I said, “Damn, Carol it’s nothing to laugh about. I only have one lung.”

         “Oh, please, can you be more dramatic. You’re just missing a small part of one lung.”

         I was about to tell her she had turned into a hard woman when I spotted through the trees what I desperately hoped was not a mirage. It appeared to be a large modern house under construction on a ridge adjoining the hiking area.

Gordie and Carol followed me as I started stumbling toward it. When we got close to the house I saw one of the construction crew and yelled, “If we give you $50 will you take us to our car?” He hollered something back which I could not understand so I told Carol, “If he is countering my offer, tell him okay.”

         Carol said, “He says it’s quitting time so he’ll be happy to give us a ride down for no money.” Then as I dropped to my knees behind her, she asked, “Are you crying?”

         I said, “Of course not, just a little dust in my eye.”

         The fellow giving us the ride was a really nice young guy and I don’t think he meant it the way it came out when he said, “I don’t see many old people hiking out there. It’s really rugged, right?”

         I started to explain to him that normally I would have done much better but that I hadn’t been well, however Carol was asking him a question so I just let it go.

         When we got back to Gordie’s house the others wanted to know how it went. As I said “good,” I noticed Carol and Gordie gazing at each other, but Gordie just said, “it was challenging.”

         My wife then asked me if I got tired and I said, “a little.” Carol and Gordie still said nothing, but I noticed that they looked at each other longer. Then my wife noticed some blood on my shirt and asked what happened. I said we had to climb through some barbed wire fences and I got nicked lifting the wire. This time Gordie and Carol not only stared at each other, they made chuckling sounds.

         The next day as we were preparing to leave I thanked Gordie for the hikes and told him that maybe we could do it again someday.

         He said probably so if I recovered physically and mentally from the lung thing and Carol got some other shoes and a smaller purse.