Maybe it is my imagination but I perceive that the air is more pure, the wind is stronger, and the neighbors are more involved--maybe because we depend on each other in ways that are unnecessary to those who live within shouting distance of the local fire department.

I have noticed that the natural environment here on my mountaintop is less cluttered with litter. When I step outside my door at night, I hear the occasional bark of coyote and the hoot of an owl. I walk the trails left in the woods by those who enjoy the hunt and see signs of a bear den in a shallow cave surrounded by boulders.  A friend tells me the odd appearance of an oak tree three yards distant is a "scrape."  I look at him with raised brow and he explains that the huge buck he will soon be hunting has rubbed its antlers on that tree.  "Don't you dare kill my buck," I say, but don't mean it.  Hunting is as natural to men as scraping against trees is to the buck they pursue.

On clear days, I can see for miles around.  It is hard to concentrate on mundane things like cleaning, cooking, and business as usual.  It is easy to write--for the created splendor in which I am immersed brings an awareness of the Creator who is responsible for the existence of my mountain, and yours.

We all have mountaintops to experience.  The mountain on which I live is a daily reminder of the mountains I have scaled in the past, and the ones that challenge me today to come up higher, to dwell among the wild and the free.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I give thanks for my life long dream, my mountaintop home.  But more importantly, I give thanks for the One who provided for me--my home, my family, my friends, and my passion.  The passion to write, to share, to be...

Living on a mountaintop has it joys, and it challenges. Sometimes, I come down into the valley and am reminded of other joys, other challenges, and other opportunities.  I am reminded that everyone experiences valleys, and there is a mountaintop for each of us to scale.  And I am reminded that wherever I am--in the valley or on the mountain top--I am not alone.  The One who created both also created me and He is with me everywhere I go.

The mists are rising from the peaks this morning, and I am going to put the turkey in the oven.  Our house will be full today and tomorrow as friends and family from the mountain and from the valley gather together to give thanks to the One who created it all.