Cheer, Cheer . . .

My favorite travel companion and I play this game whenever we go anywhere.  He's a University of Florida grad and I'm a University of Notre Dame grad, so we compete to see who can spot the most people wearing their alma mater's gear.  So far, he's been in the lead with UF hats spotted in the airport in Iceland, on our way both to and from Europe.  When I left for Asia, it was with a sinking dread that, once again, "Gators" would dominate the landscape with only the occasional "Irish" to console me.

Nothing even remotely like that happened.  I saw none of either.  After being in the continent for four months, I hadn't seen so much as a t-shirt.  (There was once an Ohio State University 2006 National Champions shirt, but I didn't want to tell the wearer that tOSU had lost horribly in the title game that year.)

It wasn't until I was on my way downhill from Everest Base Camp, at an elevation of 4100 meters, that someone walking up the hill finally greeted my Notre Dame visor with, "Go Irish!"

None of the Aussies, Brits, or Sherpas in my immediate vicinity had any idea why I suddenly turned, high-fived the man, and cheered for the next twenty minutes of descent.  One of the Aussies kept asking if the man had been in my sorority.  There was something totally lost in translation.  But for someone who has as many fond memories of Notre Dame as I do, and who knows how much of a tight-knit community exists between its grads past and present, meeting another Notre Dame grad all the way up here was a very special thing.

Besides, doesn't one "Go Irish" at 4100 meters trump two Florida hats in Reykjavik? We'll call it a tie.

Look closely and you'll see I'm even wearing my Notre Dame backpack

Imagine my surprise, then, when this month's Notre Dame Magazine arrived at my door.  On the cover was a picture of a very familiar mountain, and the headline: "Destination Everest".

I stared at the author's picture for a good five minutes.  Could it be he looked a little . . . familiar?  Could it have been . . . ?  And the tour group he was with, weren't his companions wearing that logo . . . ?

Nah.  Couldn't be.  . . . Could it?