Nature's Blessings
While on a road trip with our 25-foot travel trailer in tow between Utah and Idaho, my husband, Vic (“Honey”), and I stopped at Bear Lake to camp for a couple of days. The campground was a private resort with many amenities such as a pool, sauna, Jacuzzi, tennis court, golfing greens, showers, recreation and dining rooms, paddle boats and more.
I enjoy roughing it smoothly; I’m a city gal after all.
However, we were told by resort manager that only the Jacuzzi and showers were available because it was early in the season. I could barely hide my disappointment as Honey whistled a happy tune while he expertly parked our trailer on a top level campsite affording us a stunning view of meandering paths abundant with Queen Anne’s lace growing in wild profusion.
Across the resort entrance we could see farmlands backed up to the lake. Peace was in the air, I could almost smell it, along with the sweet scent of clover.
The quiet was pierced by the high-pitched song of orioles flying overhead, their bright orange bodies a bold splash of color across the clear azure sky. I paused in appreciation of the beauty I was witnessing. I felt as if I was looking at a living painting. The scale of this enormous canvas displayed nature’s art under a flawless sapphire sky. Immediately, I felt joy that comes from knowing there is a grace more powerful than any mortal tribulation.
“Wow, Honey, this is a spectacular vista! Sadly, when night falls we won’t be able to see the beautiful landscapes.”
“Let’s wait and see what the night brings us,” he said.
“It’s going to bring darkness! Haven’t you noticed there aren’t any street lights around here?”
There were a few RV rigs in the camp resort; we saw little sign of people out and about the grounds. After dinner, Honey and I put on our swimsuits and climbed to the highest knoll to where a Jacuzzi was located. I turned on the switch that started the waves of bubbles percolating before we submerged ourselves into the warm calming water.
Soon darkness seemed to blanket the earth around us and over us like a canopy of black velvet. The stars appeared like diamond clusters broaches.
If that celestial display were not enough, we were entertained by fireflies flitting about like miniature stars.
“Honey, doesn’t this place, this night, make you feel as if we are the only people in nature?”
“Yes, because for now, we are,” he said, with his boyish smile.
I felt privileged and humbled for the divine experience we had been gifted with when darkness brought out the galaxies to illuminate our many blessings.
Yolanda Adele is a member of the writing class offered through the Cerritos College Adult Education Program. It is held off-campus at the Norwalk Senior Center.