Another Happy Place
Another Happy Place - A Pleasant Thought by Patrick N. Neville:
I’m driving along in a dusty blue 1970’s Jeep, no top, just enjoying the warm spring air. It’s early in the season, so it’s not to frying hot yet, just right. I’m down South, somewhere in Southern Utah around Moab I’d think. The desert terrain in early spring. I approach an old abandoned farm on the side of the road, my landmark for the turn off. I pull off the main highway onto an old dirt road, I pull over and lock the hubs and check the tires. It’s about a 45-minute drive through the canyon up this rough dirt road. I throw the jeep in 4 wheel and head off. The sun is beginning to slowly fall behind the red rock cliffs surrounding me and evening is beginning to settle in. I’m a little parched, so I open up the cooler on the floor in the passenger side of the jeep and grab me a cold one. There ain’t no law out here, so I have nothing to worry about. The ice-cold delicious beer fills my mouth and cools all the way down to my belly as I slowly wind my way up the old dirt road. Just up ahead is my halfway spot that I’ve carved out of the side of the road so I can park my Jeep. Just off the road and down the embankment is a place where a little stream tumbles down from under the road above, making a little waterfall and a wonderfully green area shaded by the rocks above and the road on the other. I always stop here on my way to my place, I have an old rusty lawn chair down there already so I grab me another cold one and head down for a spell. I wipe the dust and little critters off the chair and plop myself down, I crack my beer, sit back, and close my eyes. I can hear the splashing of the water falling onto the rocks, always similar but never the same, like an ever-changing tune being played forever by the earth itself. The wind suddenly picks up a little and a blast of air rolls through, that dusty air with the smell of desert and sage on it. I inhale and take in that wonderful scent as I fell the misty air from the waterfall floating on my skin. I take a good gulp of beer and relax in the moment here until a smile crosses my face. I’ve achieved my goal here, so I finish my beer and head back to the jeep. I crank her up and continue up the road. I drive in the setting sun for 20 more minutes, watching the light reflect off the canyon walls until I see it. My little place. It’s nothing fancy, some people might even call it a shack or a hovel. But to me, it’s my desert palace. It’s a little old wood house, it’s got a door and a few windows. I’ve had to make some improvements over the years, but it’s a good place to chill. I pull in and head into the house, it’s a little dusty, but not bad. There’s the usual amenities, a couch, card table, the occasional ashtray, etc. The floor is wooden and creaky, the walls are greyish white with a bunch of my strange tapestries and flags adorning them. I replaced the windows a couple years back with colored bottles, so when the sun shines through the windows, it fills my little cabin with beautiful colored light. I grab a beer and sit on the couch. As the light pours in, the colors bounce off the walls and all around like the light through large stained-glass windows of an old church, I giggle to myself as this is kind of my church. Here I am, in my own cathedral being shown a beautiful natural show as I enjoy my delicious beverage. If there is a God, then it’s certainly here with me in this room in this moment. I watch until the light gives way to the oncoming darkness of night, where I shall exit my humble abode to the fire pit out back where I shall cook myself delicious meats, drink wine, and play guitar to the light of a trillion stars. I don’t even the old oil lamp tonight, just the pure starlight. It’s a little chilly, so I grab my camp blanket from the back of the jeep and curl up next to the fire, I stretch my arms out and place them behind my head as I think to myself “My God, I love everything.” Then I just sit and enjoy being, just simply being. I sip my wine as I watch the stars and soon I’ve drifted off into comforting sleep.
I’m driving along in a dusty blue 1970’s Jeep, no top, just enjoying the warm spring air. It’s early in the season, so it’s not to frying hot yet, just right. I’m down South, somewhere in Southern Utah around Moab I’d think. The desert terrain in early spring. I approach an old abandoned farm on the side of the road, my landmark for the turn off. I pull off the main highway onto an old dirt road, I pull over and lock the hubs and check the tires. It’s about a 45-minute drive through the canyon up this rough dirt road. I throw the jeep in 4 wheel and head off. The sun is beginning to slowly fall behind the red rock cliffs surrounding me and evening is beginning to settle in. I’m a little parched, so I open up the cooler on the floor in the passenger side of the jeep and grab me a cold one. There ain’t no law out here, so I have nothing to worry about. The ice-cold delicious beer fills my mouth and cools all the way down to my belly as I slowly wind my way up the old dirt road. Just up ahead is my halfway spot that I’ve carved out of the side of the road so I can park my Jeep. Just off the road and down the embankment is a place where a little stream tumbles down from under the road above, making a little waterfall and a wonderfully green area shaded by the rocks above and the road on the other. I always stop here on my way to my place, I have an old rusty lawn chair down there already so I grab me another cold one and head down for a spell. I wipe the dust and little critters off the chair and plop myself down, I crack my beer, sit back, and close my eyes. I can hear the splashing of the water falling onto the rocks, always similar but never the same, like an ever-changing tune being played forever by the earth itself. The wind suddenly picks up a little and a blast of air rolls through, that dusty air with the smell of desert and sage on it. I inhale and take in that wonderful scent as I fell the misty air from the waterfall floating on my skin. I take a good gulp of beer and relax in the moment here until a smile crosses my face. I’ve achieved my goal here, so I finish my beer and head back to the jeep. I crank her up and continue up the road. I drive in the setting sun for 20 more minutes, watching the light reflect off the canyon walls until I see it. My little place. It’s nothing fancy, some people might even call it a shack or a hovel. But to me, it’s my desert palace. It’s a little old wood house, it’s got a door and a few windows. I’ve had to make some improvements over the years, but it’s a good place to chill. I pull in and head into the house, it’s a little dusty, but not bad. There’s the usual amenities, a couch, card table, the occasional ashtray, etc. The floor is wooden and creaky, the walls are greyish white with a bunch of my strange tapestries and flags adorning them. I replaced the windows a couple years back with colored bottles, so when the sun shines through the windows, it fills my little cabin with beautiful colored light. I grab a beer and sit on the couch. As the light pours in, the colors bounce off the walls and all around like the light through large stained-glass windows of an old church, I giggle to myself as this is kind of my church. Here I am, in my own cathedral being shown a beautiful natural show as I enjoy my delicious beverage. If there is a God, then it’s certainly here with me in this room in this moment. I watch until the light gives way to the oncoming darkness of night, where I shall exit my humble abode to the fire pit out back where I shall cook myself delicious meats, drink wine, and play guitar to the light of a trillion stars. I don’t even the old oil lamp tonight, just the pure starlight. It’s a little chilly, so I grab my camp blanket from the back of the jeep and curl up next to the fire, I stretch my arms out and place them behind my head as I think to myself “My God, I love everything.” Then I just sit and enjoy being, just simply being. I sip my wine as I watch the stars and soon I’ve drifted off into comforting sleep.