Mountain Truths

I recently went back to Southern California to visit friends after being gone almost a year. The timing of the trip coincided with a women’s retreat, organized every y ear by the church I had belonged to. It draws wonderful women who are seeking a weekend respite from families, jobs, and life. We come together in fellowship (or would that be “womanship”?) for three days of eating, drinking, laughter, tears, long walks and conversations, and ends with hugs and promises to do it again next year. The location is a cabin in the San Bernardino mountains that has a communal kitchen and living room, which is where we spend 99% of our time (hey, it’s where the food is!).

The retreat included a writing exercise around “What I learned on the Mountain” which was then collected. Four months later, when you have totally forgotten about the exercise, your own handwritten missive shows up in the mail, like a ghostly message from your past self.  As soon as the envelope came, I knew exactly what it was, but couldn’t remember a single thing I had written because daily life takes over. But opening the envelope was like riding in a time machine, and suddenly the memory of a weekend’s joy makes me smile, and reminds me what I learned in the Mountains:

Good friends age like good wine

Laughter cures almost everything

You never know what load another person is carrying

Life is full of challenges, and challenging people

Babies make you smile

The mountains can caress you with breezes

Being 6000 feet up gives you a whole new perspective

Heavy traffic is inevitable when you want to get somewhere quickly

Making breakfast with Robin is one of the highlights of the weekend

A hug from Justine makes it worth the trip

Laura is one of the wisest women I know

Carol can find something funny in almost anything

So today I thank the far away mountains for reminding me of some of life’s truths and for having friends who make the trip worthwhile.