Smokey Skies Bulletin
It comes with the territory where I live that in the summer, there are bound to be some days of smokey skies due to wildfires. This year, the region has been blanketed with thick smoke for weeks with no end in sight. While we’re thankful to not have homes at risk or lost like others, it does put a serious damper on enjoying the summer activities the region is known for. As I was out on a short hike, with a view of nothing but smoke, I thought of the people who were visiting the region and what they were missing out on. Would they believe that on a “normal” day this trail actually held panoramic views of pristine lakes, rolling hills, forests and wineries? Even I had a hard time believing that was hidden behind all of the smoke - and I’ve seen it thousands of times! But to someone who had never been here and didn’t have the benefit of “knowing” what was hidden, it could be anything. Were the stories of beauty real or once it cleared would it just turn out to be a gravel pit or a dirty refinery behind the smoke screen?
What a difference it made being able to hike through the smoke and stop at the look-out points knowing how amazing it was. I still felt the peace of the spectacular views and if I closed my eyes I could even see them. It would be really hard to conjure up those same feelings if I didn’t “know” for sure what was there, but for anyone who could, it would make the trail far more enjoyable. Just to have that outlook and confidence of knowing that this was an amazing place, even if it didn’t seem like it right now. That seemed to be even more important than the actual view itself.
Sometimes we don’t get to know what’s behind the smoke in our lives. We don’t always get to know what miraculous things are right there beside us, waiting for the right moment to become visible and we don’t always have the benefit of having travelled this road before. But if we trust that good things are there, our journey will be far more enjoyable. We’re also more likely to find those things we seek, so our anticipation and confidence in what’s hidden becomes even more impactful. Sometimes we have to hike through the smoke as we navigate our path in life and it can be scary and nerve wracking trudging through the unknown. We can’t change that, but having a positive mindset that good things are there will make the journey far better- even if it doesn’t feel very pleasant at the time. As I said in my hiking story, it wasn’t that I could actually see the views that made the hike enjoyable in the smoke, it was my confidence knowing that they were there. I knew they were just hidden, and having that mindset made my experience great. We don’t always have the benefit of having been there before, but we can all learn to live in a mindset of knowing and expecting positive things are coming our way. So when we find ourselves in times of unchartered waters, we need to remind ourselves to hold on tight to that feeling of trusting there are amazing things about to come clear for us. As we stumble along, what would serve us better to know is around us, hiding just beyond the smoke screen? A dirty refinery or a jaw dropping view only mother nature could be capable of crafting? Either way we’re on that path at that time, so trust that you are surrounded by goodness and you never know, when the smoke clears, whatever you were imaging might just be there waiting for you. Best to make sure it’ll be one heck of a view.