Many years
ago past midnight after a hot day in the western foot hills of the
Kettle River mountain range in northern Washington State it was
awesomely quiet. In fact the quiet was deafening in relation to the
place where my home is located. The moon was so bright that one could
have read a book with its light. Elevation was estimated three
thousand to four thousand feet above sea level according to the map.
From my
resting point I could look into the valley to the west. The
headlights of the occasional highway vehicle appeared to be like a
firefly in the forest. It was probably five miles or so to the valley
floor.
Due to the
fact that the rock that I first sat on was heavily populated with
ants it became necessary to change positions. The next one was a
little lower and also more comfortable.
The
vantage point allowed unequalled parameters of surveillance.
Isolation is comforting if you are happy within and enjoying the
amenities of the area. The silence was absorbed and I sat quite
immobile.
Two deer,
a Buck and a Doe approached from my right. I did not move and I
wasn’t startled being in that mood between awake and asleep.
They were no more than twenty feet from when the Buck stopped and
looked directly at me. He must have stared for more than a minute and
possibly deciding that I was not a threat he and his mate continued.
Intermittently, they would stop and munch some fodder that they
favored.
A Crow
roused in its containment and I had a vision of it shifting to
another position to be comfortable. The nearest nesting trees were
west of my position about a hundred yards distant. Because of the
silence it seemed that they were right close to me.
A flash of
lightning caught my eye to the far west. It briefly illuminated the
side of the next mountain range. I had no idea how far it was to
those mountains but I heard no thunder.
Stars
twinkled like a million space ships in the sky. Formations that we
are familiar with and are named were plainly visible. The mind
boggling immensity cannot be fathomed by the human mind.
(Perhaps
the stars are not reflections of the sun but millions of habitats
that light their hundreds of kerosene lamps each evening after the
sun disappears on our side.)
Then a
sound gathered behind me to the south east. At first it resembled
water running downhill in a stream and it heightened. It sounded like
a locomotive rumbling over the rails. Wind was gathering in the
forest due to changing pressures. My mind visualized the force
rearing back for one gigantic push over the next ridge and rolling
down upon me.
I started
back to my holiday trailer in the yard. Wisps came at me and gently
pressed against my back and ruffled my hair sticking out the side of
my cap. It surrounded me and blew the quiet away. The long grass
waved like water and the trees appeared to welcome the cleansing. As
I arrived at my trailer a half mile from where I had sat, the wind
lessened but I could hear it travel on into the valley below. Thank
you, I said, come again sometime.
The
silence returned and I was at total peace with the world.
My mind
video often looks back on that experience. Is it once in a lifetime?
That is the only time that I have had that totally developed feeling.
I have come close at other times but it has not yet been the same.
(If the
sun is red then why is the reflection on the moon not red? How far
does the universe stretch out? How can the sun continue to burn day
after day? What is the fuel that keeps it that way and where does it
come from? Why do the stars twinkle or is that a defect in human
sight? If there are meteors travelling in space all the time how come
extremely few ever come close to the earth?)
Of course,
I don’t expect answers from anyone reading this. I am sure that
other more dedicated researchers have asked the same questions and
probably arrived at answers or educated assumptions.
