Frozen Ethereal Heaven

Fiery spikes of ultra-violet sunlight shimmer over the distant rocky peak like broken shards of regal red glass and cast awesome light onto the icy surface of a mid-winter’s frozen mountain lake.

As I gaze upon this great beauty huddled near the warmth of a crackling ferocious and lustful fire that darts angrily at the star-stricken sky with little red fists, I feel a glacial wind, unforgiving and passionless, roll down the towering peak in the distance and slap me across the face leaving rosy pink cheeks and a bright red nose in its wake.

All too suddenly I am thrust back into reality, into a place of stale coffee, last-minute assignments, and terrifying term finals. My time in that mystical place, that ethereal mind palace of cascading beauty and eternal peace never lasts long; the affairs of the physical realm always creep in and corrupt the sanctuary, shattering it into so many shards of imaginative thought and wishful thinking. Occasionally though, after the fires of my chaotic life simmer down to black ember-ridden coals, the shards of the sanctuary reassemble themselves and I am afforded yet another sojourn in heaven.

As I cast my mind’s eye back into that beautiful scene, I am reintroduced to the crackle of the fire, my hearth, and am drawn back through time and space to that majestic haven. The sweet smell of pinesap trickling down the rugged bark of ancient trees swaying in the icy wind awakens and warms my cold, bright red nose. Once again I hear the graceful antediluvian whistle of wind through the trees as the twigs, leaves, and pinecones erupt in a cacophonous chorus of ancient harmony.  My heart writhes with warmth as every piece of the puzzling scene joins back together within my memory.  This scene is my paradise, my heaven on Earth, my Elysium. The picture of that peak and frozen mountain lake is my true home, and they will never leave my soul.