Growing Out posted 9/13/2008 12:23:01 PM | 12 kudos what's this?     report abuse

Tunes4u

Washington DC was an amazing place to grow up in. Talk about your culture! And so close to a lot of salt water too. The Chesapeake Bay was a place of great interest and delight. Crab-cakes being chief among these interests. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like a good Maryland Chesapeake crab-cake and a cold beer, preferably something cheap, like Pabst or Carling Black Label. And Schlitz or ever how you spell that one. Anything like Bud or anything good just ruined the experience. Cheap beer has it's place in the culinary world, as long as it is cold as hell. Crab-cakes is one of those times. Ernie's Steak and Cheese was another time cheap beer was mandatory. Simply the best Philly Steak and Cheese in the world. 18 inches long, and packed to the hilt. And ice cold cheap beer. Damn.

Yeah....culture.

Museums, art galleries, shows of all sorts, huge movie theaters, sports, and the list just goes on and on. History and culture.

I miss it sometimes. The bustle of the city, and the busy people rushing around. Oddly, the huge display windows of the big department stores downtown during the Christmas season holds some of my happier memories in them. Those windows were alive with toys and moving dolls and presents and sparkle and glitter. Colorful lights and the music too! Happy and cheerful! Snow on the sidewalks sometimes. Holding my Mother's hand and trying to get her to wait just a moment longer.......so I could watch the train go around just one more time. These windows were signs to me...signs of the happy day to come..Christmas Day.....

I once took a ride up into the Wyoming High Country with a friend of mine about 10 years ago. He being an older gentleman who had lost his wife sometime ago, we would have breakfast in the same place most mornings. I think we may have been going there for reasons other than just the fact we were both hungry. There was an especially cute waitress there who was very nice. I think he has a crush on her. I know I did.

One day, over a cup of coffee, he asked if I would like to take a ride and see his ranch. Said it was pretty big, and that it might take the better part of the day. I told him I would love that. So after breakfast, and our mutual eyeful of our pretty server, we jumped into his jeep and headed out of town.

An hour later, and with each turnoff, the road got smaller and smaller, until we finally turned on to a dirt road, and started up a long beautiful grade, headed up into the high country of Wyoming. The high flat plains on one side, and the snow capped peaks on the other.

Ray never talked much. I asked him how much further would it be until we arrived at his ranch. He looked at me with a grin and said we had been on it for the last hour.

As we continued up the mountain, we drove through unbelievable vistas and overlooks of untouched Wyoming High Country. And he said to me, in a low voice..." Everything you see is on my ranch, as far as you can see."

I couldn't believe it. We drove for 2 more hours on this road. This man, who looked like he could barely afford breakfast every morning, owned all of this? I had heard he owned a big place, but this was past the point of comprehension.

We had Pronghorn running beside the jeep....Eagles flying overhead, and the biggest blue sky you ever saw. And we kept climbing. the road was getting steep now, and the air considerably cooler. And we were still on Ray's ranch.

We came to a summit. Ray called it Wildcat Pass. As the jeep made the crest, Ray stopped, and turned off the vehicle. We were looking down into the most beautiful valley I have ever seen. It was magical. Not huge, but spacious, sunny, ..... and silent. A small pure stream running through the grassy valley floor, and snowcapped peaks all around protecting this place from everything, including time... and it was then I saw them.....the evenly sized white stones....arranged in large circles.

I knew what this was instantly, and Ray confirmed it. Indians. Tepee circles. And campfire circles next to each larger circle. All brilliant white quartz. It looked like heaven. It really did. The absolute perfect location for harmony with everything that matters.

This was an old ghost town...a summer home for a long lost tribe, and had been for who knows how long. It was perfect and undisturbed, like everyone had just left for a little while. Ray started the jeep up, and we gently rolled up to the outskirts of "town."

" You are one of a very few people I have brought to this place. It is a sacred place to me. Be still and listen. I have been coming here since I was a child."

As I climbed out of the jeep, and looked down at the ground, I saw an arrowhead just laying there like it had fallen out of the jeep.

Ray said, " You can have a few....but don't disturb anything else."

In less than 5 minutes I had 3 or four perfectly preserved arrowheads in my hand....they were everywhere. And from the same source as the stones in the circles. Like long ago, someone was in a hurry, and had spilled a bunch of them, scattering them as he must of ran.

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Blogs by Tunes4u: +Self Medication For Fun And Profit +Bleeding All Over Myself +The Art of Wagging One's Tail +Never Kick a Cow Chip........ +The Changing of the Guard As we all Know....... +"Nice Doggie! Nice Doggie!" +Hanging On Party at Our House Writer's Block....revisited Nevermind My Week in the John Growing Out Chris and Keith Take a Hike! Nowhere Fast Politics....It Ain't Fer Sissys Rockville Md circa 1969 It's All About The Details A Letter To Myself Forgotten Dreams Someone Pinch Me Please? My Learning Curve Caution! No Swimming! Rip Currents Strong Today! For A Friend A Disturbance in the Force