Damn Fortunate

*** continued from previous post ***

We finished our third, or fourth, or possibly fifth plate of deliciousness, put away the cribbage board, (I, once again, had managed to lose the game by saving a 'pegging hand' - stop laughing), and took a walk out on the huge deck that was literally the front of the Lodge. The clouds had thinned, and the sun was playing peek-a-boo with the mountains and the meadow. It was amazing seeing the valley in sunlight, then in mist, then back to fully lit sun. About 20 feet away on the deck was an older man leaning against the railing smoking a cigar, watching the spectacle with us.

"What an amazing sight," I said to him.

He took a big puff off of his cigar, knocked the ashes into a can that the Lodge had supplied for just such occasions, and nodded his head. "It's a sight I never get tired of." He took another puff and as he exhaled the smoke billowed in the air and immediately dissipated on the breeze. He looked us over slowly, deliberately. "This your first time here?"

Mom and I shook our heads in the positive.

”You should see it in the fall, or early spring. It takes a while for the snow to completely leave, and it does come back pretty early, but even that's a sight to behold."

I pictured the meadow in winter. The even layers of snow blanketing the floor of the valley, the stream cutting a meandering ribbon through the stark whiteness. Although, in reality it probably froze over, but I wouldn't let little things like reality spoil this moment.
"I'll bet it's breathtaking."

"That it is," he said and shifted his weight to his right leg.

"Do you come here often?" Mom asked.

"Oh, not as often as I used to." He took another puff from the stogie. "My wife and I would come here a couple of times a year. We'd hike the valley. We never were much for the all out 'scale the mountain' type of hike. We liked to walk through the meadows admiring the wildflowers."

He paused here, and butted his cigar against the railing of the deck.

"She's been gone for five years now, but I still come up here once a year. Although," he grabbed his left leg at the thigh. "No more hiking for this old bird. Shrugging his shoulders he said, “ But that's alright."

He looked over at me leaning against the railing with my cane. "I don't suppose you hike much anymore, do you?"

"Not too much," I smiled.

"Eh," he said, and waved his hand. "Leave it for the granola bunch. Me? I'll sit and sip a nice Scotch, smoke a Cuban, and read a good book."

"Sounds perfect," I said.

He smiled, but it was wistful and somehow heart wrenching. He placed his cigar stump in a nook at the end of the railing. "For later," he said with a wink. Turning to leave he added, "You folks enjoy your day."

"You too," I said, and with that he disappeared into the Lodge.

Mom inched closer to me and I put my arm around her shoulder bringing her tight into a hug.
"We're pretty lucky, aren't we?", she asked. Her eyes were glassy and wet. She didn't have to say anything else for we both knew what the other was thinking.

"Damn fortunate sweetie. Damn fortunate."

We stood there holding each other close, looking over the meadow and mountains for a long, long time.


*** the journey continues ***