Is it a pilgrimage if you go in a circle? But I didn’t — I went out-and-back, out-and-back — never around or going on. 19th century whites made topping mountains a dangerous metaphor for success. Much older Asians valued going around the mountainsides, observing from every angle.

But then, how does one know success?

These were fellowships organized by affinity and the pressure of being nonconformists. Even they are subject to ecocultural economics. One died, one became a chrysalis, one became a satellite, and one thrived. Did I have impact? No one remembers.