I have not left my mountain, save for hikes and snowshoe adventures, for several weeks now. Learning is still part of living here, and where to put a vehicle, and when, is not something I have fully learned. I have neighbors quite close to me for most of the year and I have been observing their patterns in an attempt to learn. Much is discovery. I was given much advice before moving here, but experience is teaching me much, of course, aimed by the wise advice received.
This mountain is like no other in my history. This snow, equally unique, but I am more than pleased to call this my home. Whilst inside, warm, safe, and dry, with high speed internet, normal electrical power, even though generated from the sun, running water, laundry, vacuuming, etc. inside… all is normal, I could be in lovely hand built cabin anywhere, in any subdivision in nearly any region of the west. All one need do, however, is take a single step outside, and the world changes.
The outside world is devoid of much – maintained roads, buildings, human noises, electrical lines, and even people. The dog and I walk daily, I wander this area with snowshoes, we drift, we explore. There is no one here. Elk, coyote, bobcats, hawks and ravens, but absolutely no one else is here. I am already on a mountain top the minute I step outside. The solar grid solidifies remoteness. The five foot drifts in the road proffer the same. I can turn in a full circle and see nothing but mountain ranges surrounding me. I could not be more pleased.
When I first landed here last August I met many folks and the reaction was always the same. The huge, surprised eyes, the pull back, the exclamation, the examination. Was I really going to spend the winter out here? Did I know what it was like? Did I realize no one else would be here? Yes, yes, and yes, thank you very much. Nothing to do with our newly masked nation, it was a dream to return to the rurality from childhood, sans the bad stuff. I will survive the winter. Spirits are high, even with the wind down from work, perhaps because of. Days are less relevant, the dog reminds me twice daily what time it is, and thusly, in the interim, I unwind, explore more of this snowing mountain range, and just be.
I hope all is well with you, wherever you are.
