July 17, 2001. Two different locations, two different situations, seemingly worlds apart in both time and space, but we’ll soon see…
First: several books on Great Wall of China. Pop up book “the Great Wall of China” 1996; “Great Wall” 1996; and “The Best of The Great Wall-Simatai” 2000.
Second: several books on Mt Fuji. “Hokusai’s Views of Mt Fuji” 1978; “the Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji” Heiboncha, Tokyo 1968 (rather rare); “Mt Fuji” photographs 1987; and “Fugako” 1959, a beautifully bound collection of Mt Fuji photographs, in slipcase, from Japanese photographers.
What do these two remarkable places have in common? Twenty three years ago (7/17/01) I was standing on the Great Wall of China, Simatai section, around 3:30 pm, with my best friend. Simatai is perhaps one of the most beautiful parts of the Great Wall-high in the mountains, wild, worn down, yet still wonderfully meandering along the top of steep cliffs. You can see the parking area that we had to climb from, after the long bus drive up the mountain.
We decided then, that there was nothing as grand as this left in Beijing to see (granted we had already spent several days in the city), so we made up our minds that once we got back to Beijing (2 1/2 hours away), we would have dinner, and plan to take the next flight to Tokyo… to climb Mt. Fuji.
We were at the Beijing airport for the 6:00am flight bound for Tokyo. Then a train and bus during afternoon and evening, got us to the mountain. We started climbing the 5th station trail at 8:30 that evening. The climb took all night, and we witnessed the dawn, about 4:30 am 7/19/01, from the top of Mt Fuji, looking down at the clouds.
So in the course of 36 hours (lost an hour with the time change, and lost sleep for one full day), we traveled almost 1500 miles, had been on two mountaintops (about 7730 upward steps on Mt Fuji), and witnessed two amazing sites, from two pretty different cultures. And climbing Mt Fuji was just the first day of our Japanese adventure! We would be riding the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) later that afternoon to get to Hiroshima (once we climbed back down-no elevators).
I have a small plaque in red case, commemorating time on Great Wall of China. I also have a small pin from the top of Mt Fuji. If you look at the picture of Mt Fuji books, you can see the walking stick I used climbing up Mt Fuji. We had brands burned into the wood at different heights of the climb, ending with the top at sunrise.
How does one take in such an adventure? How does one move forward on anything so grand? Or crazy? It is not that hard, really. As the Roman poet Horace most eloquently stated, “carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.” (“Pluck the day, trust very little in the future”)
Approach every day with enthusiasm. Seize the time now. Who knows how long you have. Enjoy. That is the answer (and then buy a book about it. Hah!)
Librarytomes 