I was feeling a warm glow of familial love this morning, when I woke up to an email from our son who is out traveling the world with his good friend, seeking fulfilling adventure on skis. Then I checked the news. Las Vegas mass shooting. Worst in modern history so say the journalists. A horrifying tragedy.
We are not sure what we can do to help all the people affected by this, which must number into the thousands considering family and friends of victims — we’ll be paying attention to that. Meanwhile, I take solace in what we do have in family and friends, feeling the love, while being overcome by emotion for those who, during an evening of innocent fun, had their lives snatched by some homicidal maniac who shall never be named in any writing I ever do. Later, the political opinions will fly like a flock of aimless pigeons. Perhaps we will join the flight, perhaps not. For now, we take pause with this blog post, a moment of silence and a day of taking stock. Blessings to all of you out there. Embrace your family and friends. Be thankful for what you have.
(COMMENTS ARE CLOSED FOR THIS POST. I’ll update with links to various support options for the victims once those are clear.)
Lou
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
