A longing for Summer in the Mountains

Note: This was written on March 13, 1997, and appeared in the Valley Ham News newsletter.
It was the "Editor's Ramblings" for that issue.

Notes and Thoughts on a Spring Morning in the Valley
It's Spring here, and the sun is shining, giving me a cheery view out my window. However; this is a view of concrete and blacktop. I long for the view from the trailer under my favorite pine tree in the forest. In my mind I see the creatures like the birds, squirrels and chipmunks that inhabit the area during the warm, lazy days of summer. Logic tells me that my pine tree presently stands surrounded by snow, and the days and nights are cold and dreary. The birds are still gone to the south, and the ground creatures are deep asleep hibernating under the snow. Logic be damned, my soul still longs for the quiet, tranquil peace that only the forest in summer can provide.
Each of us, it is said, has a favorite place or locality to which we return for solace and rejuvenation. For some, it is the mountain trail or slope in winter, the windswept sea shore in the stormy winter or the sea breeze off the same sea shore in the summer. For others, it is the noisy, turbulent City with its night lights and grid-locked daytime traffic. To each his own, but this restless dreamer can't get the forest and its sights, sounds, and odors out of his mind.
There is only one other place that approaches the forest in quiet solitude. The high desert of northwest Nevada, with its barren wasteland and struggling junipers can also give solace to the soul. The desert, with its bleak and stark landscape, is a place where body and soul can soak up a peace and contentment available nowhere else. However, the desert has surprises. Just when it seems all life has left the planet, a creature of the area appears to remind us that we are not alone. Unfortunately, the high desert in this season is as cold and inhospitable to me as the snowy forest. There will come a time later in the year when the desert will provide a few days of solitude and nights of beauty under the light of a million blazing stars.
I have been told to consider the deserts and mountains of the southwest in winter. They are said to be warm and sunny, with an abundance of rocks, sand, cactus and their own share of native creatures. Trees grow in the mountains, and birds are there also. The southwest does have its share of cold wind and snow, though not to the extent found to the north.
I have considered going south with the birds for the winter. However; this entails leaving home and family and traveling many more miles than to the favorite pine tree. For many people, this is an acceptable tradeoff. For me, the ties to home and family are too great, and migration such as this is not acceptable now. There are times when there is a slight longing to see the southern desert, but that longing pales into nothing when compared with the incessant pull of the pine tree to the north.
So the wait for summer will continue, and as the days grow longer and warmer, the pull of the pine tree is finally satisfied. The snow is almost gone, and the forest is waking up from the long winter nap. The dirt road in the mountains is negotiable with the trailer, and summer in the forest begins. Rejuvenation commences, and the mountain air works its magic on body and soul.
I am home for the summer.

Last updated on June 12, 2006