Mountain Mornings

"The mountains are calling and I must go."
-John Muir-

It's been unusually cool in my part of the world for the past few days.  Cool enough to have all the windows open to let the cool air in, pretty much unheard of in late July.  Late July and then into August typically leave us in the throes of what I call "suppression heat" where it is so hot and humid that you just lay there, trying not to sweat.  I love the lush green that comes along with that humidity and heat, but I love it from the confines of the air conditioned living room.  So, to be able to keep the windows open for three days and nights straight.............amazingly wonderful.

Yesterday, I woke up in the chilly air buried under my quilts and blankets in a warm little cocoon of perfect snugness, whacked the snooze button on my alarm (it was 0430!!) and gave myself 5 (or 15) minutes to enjoy the cold outside and warm inside.  I love that feeling- when I was a kid, I grew up in a house that didn't have a lot of heating in the back where the bedrooms were.  It would be around 40 degrees in our rooms most mornings, so you learned early that you leapt from bed and hustled down to the kitchen or living room where the woodstove was.  I grew up in the "frozen north" where I once saw the thermometer reach 56 below zero.  Not counting the windchill.  Living in the south doesn't often provide those cool mornings to enjoy.

Once, I spent a significant amount of time in the mountains not far from here.  (Not the Smokies.)  I had the opportunity to spend weekends up on the top of a mountain in a little house and I was able to wake up to mountain mornings that are cool and beautiful, where you can see the steam coming off your coffee and you need a hoodie to ward off the chill.  While I no longer go to that house, I have held onto that feeling of peace and contentment that I would always feel up there.  The last three mornings have reminded me of that feeling and how much I miss it.

The above quote from John Muir keeps cycling through my mind and makes me "itchy" which is to say, makes me want to run away from home and live in the mountains (with my family, of course).  This isn't logistically possible, since I just got a new job in the city, kiddo is in school, and a host of other things that make me a grown-up and limit my ability to simply drop everything and run off into the sunset with abandon. 

But at least I know what I want, so that someday, when the timing is right, I will be able to point my compass in that direction and drink my coffee every morning on my mountain porch, where the sun is crisper, the birds sing sweeter, and all the world is in harmony.

Photo Credit