Mike's Mountain

When I was a kid -- and by kid I mean 18, 19 -- there was a very different, amazing man. He was a Roman Catholic priest at the time -- and his laugh was incredible and loud, and it was his signature, in my mind.

I can't quite remember how I got to know him. I was an altar boy at my church, and he was a priest there. I'm sure that's how. (I am an atheist now).

He is a great man. He left the priesthood to get married to a woman, who also coincidentally left the "nun-hood." She, not accidentally, is a great woman. They had two kids together.

Anyway, about 6-7 of us went on a cross-country road trip east one summer. My brother, Doug, came with us. You will soon see why that's significant.

We went to beautiful places like Toronto, our biggest city. Quebec City, a quaint city in the province of Quebec where the French language is largely spoken.

We ended up in Canada's Atlantic provinces. There is nothing like it and I would recommend it to anyone. We went to the province of Newfoundland, a magical place that, in some areas, gives a glimpse into old seafaring ways of life.

I remember we went early-morning cod fishing with an old fisherman named Paddy O'Dea and his son on their dorey. We caught some cod -- I remember I helped pull the nets in -- and pan-fried the fish right on frying pans right in the dorey.

Remarkable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_and_Labrador

http://www.youtube.com/user/NewfoundlandLabrador

The point is, there IS no place on Earth like Newfoundland. The Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, are breathtaking. Newfoundland is also breathtaking, but is a visit back to the 15th Century.

Anyway, to Mike's Mountain.

When we were IN Newfoundland, we stumbled upon what I call Mike's Mountain.

 I call it that because we spent an hour or so (a long, long time) scaling it. We reached the top and Mike, our buddy who was on the trip, volunteered to go back to the car, which one of us had to do, I can't remember why.

Mike, one of the strongest men I've ever known, now has cancer.  He is a lovely person with amazing strength. If there's ANY justice, he'll conquer it and survive it.

Anyway, when we were on the peak of Mike's Mountain, we played around like kids. There was a huge boulder up there, I recall. Someone came up with the idea of rolling it down the mountain.

We heaved. My brother, Doug, just about pushed too hard and almost fell down the hill, following the boulder. To be honest, I can't remember how much of this tale is true or false or whether it was a nightmare or what.