Choices

Last night I drove down to Plas y Brenin, the National Mountain Centre for England & Wales to attend the British Mountaineering Council's AGM and present a workshop on Crisis Management in the afternoon.
Arriving late it was great to know I could walk into a bar full of like minded strangers and friends and just drop into conversation with this welcoming extended family as if we'd known each other for years (which in some cases obviously we have).
At breakfast this morning there were jokes and sheepish faces about the 03:30am finish - but this is the crowd who invented work hard, play harder.
However through the morning the banter faded, people were noticeably looking at their phones, and slowly the terrible news from Nepal started to come through. Pretty much everyone in the building knew people who are out there, most of us have spent varying amounts of time in that wonderful country with the friendliest people I've ever met - it was a bad day for my extended family, but like any strong family in challenging times we pulled together, hearing news like this - these were the people I wanted to be with.
We live in a fabulous age - slowly - via emails & satellite phones & Twitter & sheer hard work messages started to come through. On a personal note I'm so so happy to know my friend Tim is safe at Camp 1, Heather is ok on the Tibetan side - I'm hoping for more good news to follow as more messages make their way through the various channels. As each of us heard we spread the word on who was where, keen to share any good news.

Recently a few people have commented (very very kindly) on my outlook - stopping to blip tonight I was struck by this image; the mountains loom large, foreboding and black, but I choose to see the light - and the more I focus on that, the less I see the dark. Tonight that's a good way to feel.