up on that mountain top

As if I don't have enough words to write for my paper due tomorrow, I figured I might as well blog while I'm at it.

This morning, after having less than ample amounts of sleep, I accidentally took Nyquils instead of Dayquils. A horrendous mistake this was. The struggle to keep my eyes open during classes was brutal. And aside from my drug-induced exhaustion, today was just a particularly gloomy day. It may have something to do with the torrential rain pouring down, but I think more realistically, I've just reached the nadir of this semester. That point where my energy is exhausted and my motivation is next to nothing. I can see the end; I should be sprinting the finish, but I just don't care anymore. I want to go home.

In July, as I enjoyed the company of the Rocky Mountains, I wrote a post about longing for the sea. In that post I wrote:

"The silly thing is, as soon as I depart from the mountains and return to the sea, those feelings of longing will likely reoccur. Only this time, the mountains will be the ones engrained in my every thought."

Today, like many days, the mountains are engrained in my thoughts. Earlier this morning, I found my beloved headlamp that has been misplaced for ages. I took it as a sign that 8 days from now I need to put it to use navigating the mountains by headlamp and moonlight. My mother has just received a text informing her that we are going for a nighttime snowshoe the day I return to the West Coast.

As the highway sign heading out of Kootenay National Park reads: