"Life is the Point"

I've been reading through The Way of the Wild Heart. I feel so much better as I'm reading about what boyhood was is I imagined it. I really enjoyed building forts and playing essentially cowboys and Indians. I too received the wound that most men receive. "You're on your own." My dad tried, but he didn't know what it was about. I have a couple of fond memories I'd like to share.
I must have been about 5 or 6. Dad and I jumped into his blue truck and drove. After passing my grandfather's ranch over an hour away, we continued into the mountains. The road got worse and worse until we were on something of an old road resembling a miner or scout's road. When we descended to the bottom of the canyon, he shut the truck off. There was a cabin there that he was checking on or something to that effect. We walked down to the creek and he fixed a rod for me to fish with. I loved it.
After a little while, he came back from the cabin and we hiked up the canyon. This canyon is mostly flat on the bottom, but with jagged boulders that have fallen from the narrow walls climbing to the sky. It was so cool! I got to climb over rocks! And Dad was taking me up this huge canyon! And I was probably going to do more fishing! And I DID! Nobody was telling me to get down and that I was going to hurt myself. I was free to be a kid!
Some years later, I had graduated from high school and taken up climbing. I was about 20. I had been going to bouldering competitions. Bouldering is where you climb up a little way (usually 15-20 feet) and then jump down or climb down. There are no ropes or harnesses. It's easier to put a comp together like this. Then your top 5 most difficult problems (particular route up the wall) are counted to your score.
Well, there was a series of these comps over the winter. I tried to go to all 6. I kept track of the standings on my own computer. I climbed hard. I wanted to be called a champion. I had a training schedule. I had a friend I called a coach who made me climb harder. I just wanted to win my measly category. I have what is called a "non-essential tremor" so I shake all of the time. If a muscle in my body is tensed, it is shaking. Makes it a little tougher to climb!
Anyway, I won a couple of comps in my division and it was looking good going into the last comp. I was pretty sure that the one climber would not overtake me, but I wanted to turn in a good score to seal the deal. Of the series, they took your best three comp scores and that made up your series score. I wasn't sure who the guy was, but he was within a few thousand points.
Out of the blue, Dad called me and told me he had decided to drive me down and take me! It was so cool to have him there watching me! I pulled so hard too! I believe I upped my score enough to make the difference between the #2 guy and I more than 10,000. That is more than any climber in my division could overtake in one night. The after party/awards ceremony was held at a local pub. He was there to see me receive my clear-glass trophy. I still have a picture of me that he took in his car after wards. I had a special place in his heart.
These stories touch my soul. They help remind me that there was a man who tried to raise me in manhood. My dad took pride in me.