Solace

We needed a moment to breathe, time out and away from things where we could just float on the wind, feel the sun on our backs, and hear the birds sing.

Weekends in Idaho's mountains seem to be more packed each year, as visitors and locals flock to the hills and forests, lakes and rivers. It is hard to find an open campground or empty trail in popular places around Heise, Palisades, and Island Park. It can feel packed. I find myself, like others, wishing people would find elsewhere to enjoy themselves, so I can enjoy nature all to myself. Who am I kidding, we live in an ever growing world, with literal billions of other people on the Earth's face.

Conflict is inevitable, isn't it? With so many people in the world, we are bound to disagree with or rub someone the wrong way. Everywhere around us lives the best they know how, I assume. What happens if we don't agree with what someone does or says?

911 is a number we call when we are in danger, lost, frantic, scared, or injured, with fear of the unknown and placed against odds and situations we have likely never faced. Usually. I hesitate to say I've acted as a counselor, therapist, guide, etc., more than I thought I ever would. I don't know how to live life. I don't think anyone does. As I have been reminded of lately, we are all first-time whatevers it is we are! Every day is new. Every day has its challenges and triumphs. My job as an emergency communications officer (911) reminds me of how little black and white there truly is in life. We live and operate in grey areas. Clarity or right and wrong can seem so situational sometimes. My stress on any given day is heightened as I hear and deal with people's worst days every hour, and sometimes every minute of the day. I miss being able to call my Dad and get his advice on how he would tackle any given situation at hand, but as I face my life, I realize, he didn't know 100% what to do every day either? He was human. We all are.

What is empathy? How do you develop it? Is it all that important? What if all the people in the mountains with us are in as desperate a need for solitude and peace as I feel I am? What if people felt as deeply, thought as thoroughly, and believed as profoundly as you and I? What if people were as complicated, as unique, and as beautiful as you and I? How do you want to be treated by others? How ought we treat others? Especially those who disagree with us.

You likely didn't come to this page to be lectured to, that isn't my intention. I write because I like to share. There is beauty on this Earth that calms my heart and clears my mind. Surprisingly, Lower Mesa Falls was nearly devoid of people when we hiked the 2 miles round-trip. The Mesa Falls Scenic Byway had only a few cars on it, surprising for a Friday afternoon. Harriman State Park was practically empty save a few dozen people quietly tucked away in their own corners of solitude. Green Ridge Rd to the Island Park Reservoir, the Centennial Loop, and the road to Kilgore and the St. Anthony Sand Dunes only had a few cars driving their long and quiet routes. It was a serene afternoon/evening! The mountains called, and we answered. The trip was just what the doctor ordered, and I feel refreshed and ready to tackle another week of work/life.

Life is often about how you view it, I think. There is still good, light, and peace to be found if you are looking for it. Stay safe out there folks, its a wild, wonderful world!