Lady Hawk

Lady Hawk

         The man stood upon a beautiful mountain top where the air was thin and one feels that he can touch the stars. He was sure that no one could find him here. There were no signs of human habitation for miles around. No subdivisions cluttered the valleys below. No airplanes soared across the blue sky above. There was no other human being visible to the naked eye. He had found splendid solitude. He had found his version of paradise.

         In the long tradition of such mountain men as Grizzly Addams and Jeremiah Johnson this man had left civilization behind. There was a yearning desire within his soul to seek the purity that this land had to offer. There was no politics or social pecking order ... or war. Days were measured with the toils of food acquisition. Nights were measured with the seeking of shelter from the elements. Yet he felt closer to God than he ever had in any Christian church.

         He spent his morning walking through the Aspens upon this fine summer day. The rich smell of the pines caused a euphoric effect upon his soul. He had eventually climbed past the tree line to walk through an alpine meadow and arrive at this spot. Now he stood here with his arms raised to the warmth of the afternoon sun. He stood here reborn. The spirit of the mountain had purified his soul and cast away his sins.

         Seth Booth let out a triumphant cry that echoed across the valley below. A hawk screeched back at him in response; her mid afternoon nap interrupted by this disruptive man. She launched herself from her tree top nest and soared over the man’s location. Her high pass was a warning to him that this was her land, her mountain. He was just a visitor here. He was the alien. She scolded him for his audible disruption. How dare he break the silence of this remote wilderness?

         The lady hawk dipped one wing at him as she soared past. He waved at the bird of prey as if she were an old lover. But that was how he thought of nature, of the land. The mountains were a long lost lover to him; a dangerous liaison with an intimate friend. He felt drawn to this land like a moth to a flame. The light was lovingly brilliant but the flames could scorch his body in any one of a dozen ways.

         To Seth this was purity. This was how the earth was before man learned to tame nature with his highways and his buildings. This was how the earth really had been before man had arrived. This was how the earth would be again once he was gone; once human beings had gone the way of the dodo bird.

         Seth sat down on the rock and stared out at the surrounding cliff faces. He watched in awe as a group of big horn sheep climbed along the top of a dangerous rock slide. He admired the animals for their sure footed escapades. No man could climb their route with such confidence. Any one foolish enough to try would be killed within a matter of minutes. God how he envied them! He wondered for a moment what it was like to be a big horn sheep. What was it like to compete for a female’s love by head butting your rival suitor? What was it like to live such a simple life?

         To Seth’s joyous surprise the lady hawk had returned and graced her presence upon the branch of a nearby stunted pine. The bird sat upon her perch and regarded the man with a regal stare. She was the queen of this mountain top kingdom. She had come back to get a closer inspection of the newest member of her royal court. Seth quickly realized that he was the first human being that this bird had ever seen. She was curious as to the nature of this strange creature. She was trying to find out what he was; what his intentions were in her land.

         In a humorous move Seth saluted the bird of prey as if she were the commanding general of an army. The bird chattered back at him. It was one final warning for him to behave himself upon her mountain top. Disruptive behavior within this sacred land would not be tolerated. He bowed to her in response to this unspoken warning. With the stare of his eyes he promised to tread lightly in her sanctuary. He promised to respect the world in which he had invaded. For the hawk it was enough. She flew back to her treetop; confident that she was still queen of this mountain.

         The man stood up and turned around to face the summit. He spotted a game trail that the elk were using to move through the high country. It would be a safer walk than pursuing the route established by the big horn sheep. With walking stick in hand and all of his worldly possessions upon his back Seth set off across the alpine tundra. There was another mountain to explore just beyond this one. There was another valley to camp in somewhere in between. There would be glacier lilies whose roots would provide him nourishment. It would not be an easy life but it would be a tranquil one. He would be as close to God as any man could ever get upon this earth. He would find peace far away from a world that only knew terrorism and war.

         Upon this mountain top Army specialist Seth Booth finally came home from Iraq. He had finally shed the hatred and the violence that he had been immersed in on the other side of the world. He had no intentions of returning to civilization. He had enough of the rest of the human race. He had his fill of insurgents armed with RPGs. No roadside bombs awaited him within these high mountains. There was only the purity of nature. There was only the peace that his soul so longed for. As he followed the game trail over the mountain he came to the realization that he was finally home.