The Vast Expanse . . .

Watching from my perch in the Weather Observation Station as the DC6 takes off to head back to Base.

I walk to the Weather Observation Station in the morning sun. The air is finally still after several days of 30 - 50+ mph winds. Snow crunches underfoot and the only other sounds breaking the silence are scratchy caws coming from Heckle and Jeckle; the two ravens who’ve made their home here at the radar site.
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The Weather Station sits up on a hill overlooking the airfield. Windows, that face toward the North, East and South, open up to the view of the surrounding mountains. I start the morning placing calls to Headquarters and the US Naval Observatory. I make notations in the log book and then I record and forward the day’s first weather observation. And, I contentedly sit back in my chair and watch the elements at their work.

As a youth, I romanticized the idea of working in a Fire Observation Tower. I dreamt of keeping watch over the forest and living peacefully in a cabin enjoying a rustic life. Though observing and disseminating weather obs to military pilots does not equate with monitoring the wilderness for fire hazards, the quiet solitude of the Weather Station and working amidst the vastness of nature seems vaguely in keeping with my adolescent imaginings. Communal living at the radar sites contrasts starkly with my desire for the rustic, but with half the year off, I’ve the freedom to explore the wilds at will.

When the weather breaks between winter storms, I bundle up against the cold and venture off to photograph cloud formations and the way light and shadow play against the mountains and of trees laden with snow. I follow the swath the dozer plows up the mountain to Top Camp and as I climb, I give thanks as I breathe in the glory of the vista that lays below.

Not long ago I worked in an industry governed by contracts upheld by State and Federal Statutes. For 15 years, I sat at a desk where I scrambled to keep up with the call volume, the walk-in-clientele and the barrage of emails clogging my inbox. Almost daily I’d contend with people who did not understand the contracts they signed, paid for and committed to. Often, in an attempt to educate, I met with deaf ears, hostility and personal affronts.
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Oddly, I value this season in my life . . . for navigating conflict and the trespass of boundaries was not my strength. But - I learned, I learned to stand up, I learned to speak up. And, I owe this hard won education primarily to this time of great challenge working in a predominately contentious environment.

Now, I fly to remote locations to work in isolated areas away from, what feels like, the rocketing pace and unnecessary pressures of city living. Here, I am learning new skill sets and facing unique challenges and growing in ways attributed solely to this situation.
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Life unfolds in ways we do not always understand and most certainly in ways we do not always desire. But I’ve learned that, though I do not always receive what I want, each day offers me what I need to grow as a person. With perspective properly aligned, life is very good.