Home is Where the Heart Is
When we come to the mountains, in search of recreation, solitude or inspiration, it’s as though we are seeking something that is missing in our everyday lives. The quiet, the grandeur, the majesty speaks to our hearts.
How fantastic the skyline is as the mountains rise proudly from the valley floor. It’s as though they stand in testimony to honor and to honesty. Standing tall thru all adversity and always remaining solid. It’s a reminder to me when I look at them of how we can live our lives.
My first view of the Sierra that I recall is that of driving through Bishop and seeing Mt. Tom in the distance in 1970. How surprised I was to see the Sierra and realize that it was like something I had only seen in books or imagined. It looked to me like what I thought the Alps would look like when I saw the Minarets! It was overwhelming. It was then and there that I knew I had to make this my home, without any question.
Now a familiar backdrop, but a reminder of the quiet power the granite holds within. It reminds me of the quality of integrity which I hold as a virtue to strive for.
As we go through these challenging times its all the more reason to hold to our true values and let them strengthen the friendships and relationships that have carried us to this point in time.
I’ve noticed recently that business associates throughout the Eastern Sierra are reconnecting and bonding with their old friends (who are left) and reestablishing the camaraderie that brought them together in the first place.
Although times like these can bring out the aggressive and competitive sides in some, they are standing out among the others who are holding together to bring out the best in one another. I’ve noticed this especially within the real estate community and other business arenas that would normally ignore some of their associates. Friends are helping friends or they are turning into vultures. Unfortunately the vultures will not be well regarded now or in the future.
It’s like a tempering of the soul. Who will stand tall and with stand the storm and who will fall by the wayside.
I’ve really enjoyed observing, amidst the conflict where our locals stand on current events in the town of Mammoth. It’s another tough time for our town after the glory days just a few years ago. The times are like living here before the development and surviving the hardest winters. It just makes a survivor out of you if you care to stay. Some will stay and some will go and that’s okay. There’s a glimmer in the eye of those who have survived even harder times and stayed because it was their home.
Throughout all of this, the mountains stand tall and brave, untouched by our small issues and will remain after we are all gone.
I look upon them and remind myself why I made this my home in the first place.
It was the fresh mountain air, the bluest skies, the magical snow falling from heaven and the brilliant summer days all wrapped up in the freedom to travel throughout the Sierra with out any trouble or cares. Just walking on a mountain trail and looking up to the peaks, it’s a reminder of the value of what life is really all about.
We live in a majestic paradise. It’s often forgotten or overlooked in our day to day lives of business, Starbucks and what the stock market is doing.
As I gaze upon the beautiful landscape, I know that honor, integrity and honesty and those who believe in this will prevail in our community.
This is our home for those who trust in their hearts and remember the real reasons that we are here.
