Mountain Retreat

What’s better than getting away from all the stresses in life? Getting away to the perfect retreat in the mountains. Quiet, serene, and peaceful with your favorite drink in hand as you watch the sun rise over a calm body of water. The thick morning mist rolling by over the banks, an elk bellowing across the way after taking a drink, maybe a busy beaver in the distance making a new home. You tilt back your head as you let it all sink in, barely noticing the icy chill from the condensation on your drink as it drips into your palm.

There’s nowhere you have to be. No calls or emails blowing up your phone from people demanding things from you or needing your attention. You don’t need to fix every and anything in that moment. You don’t need to worry about the bills or what the news is going to report on the next day. All that matters in that moment is how the crisp, clean air is filling your lungs while the melody of nature sooths your soul.

As you relax in your well worn, wooden chair on the dock, you smell breakfast cooking inside your simple and cozy cabin. An equally simple meal of bacon, eggs and toast but you know it will taste like it was from a five-star restaurant. The cabin door squeaks open, a fresh wave of cooked food smell wafts out towards you. Your partner comes out, a drink in her hand and a bright smile on her face. The sun has nearly fully risen now, and the golden light catches her messy hair. She wears one of your shirts that comes down to the tops of her thighs and her boots, nothing else. Her hair is tied back haphazard like to keep out of her face while she cooked, slightly messy still from the passion you shared that morning. She is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen and your heart flutters as she leans down to kiss you.

She tells you that breakfast is ready but you don’t want to let this moment go, not yet. You motion for her to sit beside you in her own well worn chair, just for a moment. She sighs but smiles knowingly, as if predicting what was to come. You take her hand in yours, your fingers glancing over the simple band on her finger you gave her many years ago. It has tarnished, scratched, but has never been removed. Similar to the one on your own hand. You both look across the water and see a family of ducks as they make their way to the other bank. The mamma quacks, telling the last of her ducklings to hurry up before they all disappear around a corner. A wind picks up and blows the rest of the morning mist away, then a strong smell comes to you. It’s a familiar one of acrid, burnt bacon. You glance at your partner in apology, but she merely smiles and says she’d saved extra food just in case. A quick squeeze of her hand and you both return to the cabin where you enjoy a great meal and each other’s company.

What is better, than sharing this moment with the perfect partner? Someone who will stand with you like the mountains in the distance, never wavering but always weathering the storms. Being a fortress while also providing shelter and comfort. Though the years wear you down, leaving cracks and crevasses as evidence of age, you both find the beauty in each other. What is better, than a mountain retreat?