Give A Little Whistle

When my brother found this house in the mountains, he didn't know that this was close to my mother-in-law's birth place.  I didn't realize it myself at first until I figured out the areas.  She retired in the mountains at a different location in northern California, but she was born and raised here.

I saw how she lived a simple life in her cabin-style home, and I told myself that I wanted to live that way also as I aged.  She had a garden, one of them was filled with daisies, good neighbors, and a house she loved.

It's hard to explain what it's like living in the mountains until you experience it yourself.  There is a peace that envelopes you like no other place I've lived.  People seem to take the time to look out for one another.  While I was at the creek, a big white truck drove by, and the man rolled down his window and said, "are you Ok?"  I replied, "Yes, thank you, I'm just praying."  And with a big smile, he said, "Ok!" and was on his way.  I was also taking pictures.....of the tall trees that were right in front of me,

and ones that look like tiny Christmas trees.

I saw a note recently that a dear blog friend wrote, and with it she said that "this is our time."  The other day I was reading a letter that my mother-in-law wrote.  Her writing was so graceful, and I was surprised to see the words she wrote in her letter, "Everyone has their own time."

So, on my drive home from the creek, I see the majestic mountain before my eyes.  I realize this is where I'm supposed to be, and this is my time.

I feel my mother-in-law up here - in her area.  And I stop to think about her.  She was so generous, and whenever I visited her, she always gave me something to take home.

So, I'm thankful for the rain that came here recently,

for the pretty drives,

that my in-laws are not far away, and that my son is close by and walks these same woods and feels peace, as he just did the other day when it was raining.

My mother-in-law's resting place isn't the area where she retired, it's here, in the area she was born and raised.  The last letter she wrote me was actually just a few years before she passed, and as I was reading it, a smile shone brightly on my face, as she said, "So, I will be with you in my heart.  Give a little whistle!"

~Sheri