Losing the Keys to Adventure

     I had hoped my next entry would be Part II of the canoe, dog, posse, trip, but I was lax and in the interim I lost the keys to adventure.  Let me explain.  Several weeks ago I was surfing the ole Facespace and saw that my friend Molly had experienced a series of set backs.  She and her girlfriend had been in Costa Rica when someone slipped into their hotel room and stole their passports, ID, and money from beneath their bed... while they were sleeping.  After resolving that nightmare and returning to the states Molly's garage caught fire and burned to the ground, taking with it many of her personal belongings.  As I listened to Molly she described the items she had lost and the emotional ramifications of losing items that we bestow with a sense worth.  Of course it struck a nerve when she told me that her motorcycle had been uninsured and had been smothered by the burning building, but what really hit home was when she described finding the charred scrap of what she assumed had been her North Face bag.  At its most fundamental a backpack or duffle bag is nothing more than a fabric vessel that is used to transport items.  But when we examine it closer this item, this piece of gear, is more than a simple vessel, it is a key to adventure.  With this item, or items, we are allowed to open ourselves to the wider world, whether it be via athletic pursuits or world travel or what ever endeavor that we embark on that sends our heart racing.    What is the Kayaker without her boat, what is the cyclist without his steed, the photographer without their camera, the climber without his rack.  Even the most independent or minimalist still relies on a piece or pieces of equipment to assist them in their exploratio of our world or themselves.  Even Dean Potter wears shoes... most of the time.  Our "gear" is our key, our body the hand that turns the key and with it the world throws open the doors of adveture.