A “Touchstone”, if I understand correctly, is a happy place for a nature lover. Some feel that it is, “A place in nature that keeps drawing him back again and again through the years, perhaps throughout his life.” This place not only captivates you, it has the power to heal you and soothe your soul to the point that it almost becomes a part of your personality. It’s a place where, once you’re there, the worries and pressures of life are miles away and insignificant.
I had such a place in my younger years, but now it’s inaccessible to me because I can’t get there physically anymore. It was on top of our mountain on the very edge of the Allegheny front, a huge rock that was easy to climb and offered a view of the valley below that was second only to the sky in my opinion. When he was younger and full of energy, he would climb the side of the mountain to get to it, sometimes in hunting season, but often just for the sheer joy and exhilaration of the experience. I shared my father’s love for the wild, adrenaline-fueled feeling we would get when we were “on top” (his term for it).
We were only a short drive from camp or our vehicle, but isolated in our own little world up there. Even when he was hunting, he went there more for an experience of communing with nature than for the pursuit of any game animal. For me, over the years, entering that coveted place is now a mere memory. And my touchstone has evolved from that specific place to various places.
My deer stands over the years have been touchstones: havens from life’s worries, not just in deer season, but anytime I feel the need. Surprisingly, some of my most memorable deer seasons were the ones where I “didn’t succeed” in hunting a deer. The reason for this is that in those years I spent more time in the fields, had more adventures, and saw more sunrises and sunsets than I did in years when I hunted a deer on the first day or early in the season. My dad used to take vacations the entire two weeks of hunting season, yet he rarely made a dollar. I know he was a good hunter, so I always suspected he would pass deer after deer, just so he could keep hunting. And I realized that he knew exactly what he wanted and what he was doing.
“That day in the tree stand when the deer were out of sight, I put my gun down, I looked around, I was so calm. And he could hear the Good Lord say: Son, be still, because you can’t find peace like this in a bottle or a pill.”
For many years, just being ‘out’, whether it was hunting, fishing, exploring, or just hiking, was a true escape for me. Whether I was on the move or sitting with my back against a tree, what was in front of me at that moment was my universe, at least for those brief fleeting moments. Regardless of my mundane concerns for the day, a squirrel noisily approaching through the dry leaves had my full attention. My worries instantly receded into the background, definitely the last thing on my mind, and that’s precisely why I was there.
I have faced many problems and have come closer to my Creator in the wild than anywhere else. Because that’s where I feel closest to Him. And while my dad never said that much, I suspect he felt the same way and somehow passed on that quality to me. I hope I have also passed it on to my sons and daughter. I know you all love the natural world and hopefully have let that love draw you closer to the One who created it.
There were some dark times in my life that I honestly feel I would not have gotten through without the strength I found in the time I spent with the Creator on top of a secluded mountain and with my full focus on my experience with nature.
There have also been a few times in my life when I have visited my deer stand in the dead of night with a heavy heart. If there is ever an experience that makes you feel isolated from the world, it is sitting in a tree with all kinds of sounds around you, but nothing you can see, and your mind races in all directions. Somehow, in the midst of all that, peace enters your mind. Peace that only He can bring. The Bible verse comes to mind: “We walk by faith, not by sight” (Corinthians 5:7).
I once read in a book that some feel that “heaven is nowhere else. It’s a place we’ve been before and we want to be again.” That makes sense to me.
Although no one knows where or what Heaven is, I always felt that Heaven was different for each person. And if that’s the case, my Heaven is undoubtedly on top of a mountain somewhere where I can see forever. The trees will be in a perpetual state of autumn splendor. The warmth of the sun will be bathing the mountain and there will be just that slight chill of loneliness in the air. Autumn in Pennsylvania: that will be my paradise!
Whether it’s a beloved deer stand or a coveted scenic mountain view, there’s no question that nature can be an escape. I was raised in nature and was taught to love and respect it, and to see the touch of God in everything…
I have felt the wind blow
I’ve seen your tears fall
How could I say that there is no God?
When everything around Creation calls
A songbird, a mighty tree
The vast expanse of open sea
Looking at a bird in flight
I feel your presence there
Fragrance of a blooming rose
The cry of a newborn at birth
I believe, I believe, I believe”
