Old John and the Forest Fire (Part 3)

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;

From where shall my help come?

(Psalm 121:1)

Part 3 of 8

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Old John had just finished another careful sweep around the vast wilderness with his powerful binoculars.  Then, he made his twice-daily routine report (brief and to the point) to the ranger headquarters with his two-way radio.

He settled back, and poured himself a mug of hot coffee – which always tasted wonderful in the cool, late-afternoon air at that altitude.  As he settled into his chair, he watched with interest as thunderheads began to build up to the southwest.  It looked like a good-sized summer storm was brewing.

Old John had previously caught a glimpse of campfire smoke in a valley near the end of a ridge down southwest of his lookout.  He new there was good fishing in the streams in that area.  And, he was not surprised to see that the hikers, whose presence in the vicinity had been reported to him, had settled there about six days ago.

On a couple of occasions, he had caught glimpses of flashes of light from down there too – probably off the lenses of someone's binoculars, someone who was just curious about the lookout.  They probably wondered what kind of a person would spend his life up here – and why?

As the sun began to set, the thunderclouds were growing larger and more ominous.  They began to look quite a bit darker and more menacing as twilight began to set in.  It was still quite clear around Baldcrest Mountain.  But further to the southwest, Old John could see the first flashes of lightening.

At first, they made beautifully spectacular flashes between the clouds.  Then, one large bolt of lightening seemed to connect earth to heaven, and it lit up the whole sky down in that direction.

It was still light enough to see the tops of the forest silhouetted against the clouds and portions of the darkening sky as twilight drifted into the dark of night.  It was getting quite cool as the sun disappeared.  A stiff breeze began to blow in Old John's face as he peered intently into the growing darkness from his vantage point on the exposed walkway that extended around the perimeter of his old lookout.  He put on his warm comfortable old jacket, and sipped his coffee.  That cup of hot coffee sure felt good.

  Old John would have to keep a watchful eye to the southwest.

[To be continued - jad]