If one is lucky, one gets to see the Pyrenees the day that one crosses from France to Spain. We saw them for many days before walking over them — about ten days before we actually crossed over. We were walking along a ridge that led into Lectoure, and I looked to my left, south, and gasped. 'What is it?' 'It's the Pyrenees!' They were still so far off, it was hard to believe that eventually we'd get up close.
Two days before we hiked over them, we got a good glimpse of them from the Chapel of Soyarza. The mountains in that region of the Basque country are not super high but they still are impressive. Even the day that we walked into Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, we could see them and from our room at the bed and breakfast where we spent two nights they were there.
But not the next day.
That often is how it seems with long sought-after goals. They appear to be clear for a while and then they disappear into fog and confusion.
How long has it been that the world has been talking about HIV/AIDS? The US dragged its feet forever on it… Randy Shilt's book, And the Band Played On, tells that story in heart-breaking detail. And that book came out twenty years ago!!! (The pages of my copy are yellowed with age.) We're still muddling around with prevention of HIV/AIDS (MDG #6).
Google HIV/AIDS and you'll come up with 54.600.000 hits.
For starters, though, if you want more information, go to the UNAIDS website.
This pandemic is a true mountain to climb, the path is not always clear, and we still have a long, long way to go.
