The Alabaster Garden

The following day they hiked around in the area to a nearby lake and ate a picnic lunch while enjoying the sun and the highland wildflowers. As Jean and Michael took a little nap, Tess climbed to a ridge about 300 feet farther up to get a better view of the area. From there she could see into the next valley and was watching an enormous bird that she thought must be a hawk or an eagle, soaring high above the valley floor, circling round and round looking for prey. She sat there for maybe a half an hour; and when she moved to go back down, she heard a loud hiss behind her. She turned her head, and there, about 50 feet away, stood a large cougar on a ledge, monitoring her movements. Tess recoiled with fear as the cougar looked at her intensely, frozen in a position that suggested it was just as surprised as she was. But there was something in its eyes that felt familiar and, after some anxious moments, Tess realized it wasn’t going to harm her. She didn’t know why, but she felt an affinity with the big cat. Suddenly it turned and disappeared as quickly and quietly as it had come.

When Tess came back down to where Michael and Jean were napping, they had already packed and were just about to start calling to her.

“Where have you been? We were getting worried.”

Tess picked up her daypack. “I climbed up to that ridge to get a better view. You should have seen how beautiful it was from up there.”

They looked up to where she was pointing and remarked that it must have been quite a climb. Michael glanced at his watch and decided they needed to get going. Tess didn’t want to tell them about the cougar. It felt good to keep the experience to herself, and maybe tell the story to her own kids some day. On the way down, she felt someone watching their movements-- someone like her--a free spirit that kept to the high ground of her mind and wasn’t easy to understand or get to know-- someone that dreamed of climbing to the highest peak and taking one last leap to fly with the eagles.

It seemed to Tess that Shasta emanated a power and it called out to her. It wasn’t anything she could touch or understand with her mind, but it was there, calling her to raise her eyes and follow her highest aspirations. It was as if the mountain were asking her to believe in her dreams and honor the longing of her heart with courage and perseverance. As they drove toward the redwoods, she watched the mountain dwindle in size, feeling its power grow to majestic proportions within her heart.

And yet she wasn’t prepared for what she met in the redwoods, nor could her normally vivid imagination have created any fantasy that could match the majesty and wisdom that she felt when they left the main road and drove into the Avenue of the Giants.