Ripplin' Waters

We love dancing to the 1975 song Ripplin' Waters by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.  The lyrics describe better than any other song how we feel about life at our cabin in Pine:

“I've got ripplin' water to wake me
To the mornin', my woman and love
And tall pine trees are pointing us easily
To heaven above

Blue spruce flaming on the grate in the evening
Takes the chill away fine
Cut the telephone line
And the story's the same…..”

Safe and quiet, snug and cozy in our cabin nestled in the tall pine trees—together we are content and at peace.  Here in this paradise where we live, we find the most remote, beautiful, and diverse areas to hike and cycle.  

We have traveled, lived, and hiked in every state west of the Mississippi and all the southern states.  We have seen so much spectacular beauty in our country.  But our favorite places have been in our country's grasslands.

Today we hiked on the Arizona Trail surrounded by our beloved grasslands.  

The spring mountain wildflowers were beginning to blossom.

The grasslands, interspersed with pine trees, blanketed the earth in every direction…..

Ripplin' Waters’ last verse expresses how we feel:

“And you made my world a warmer place
By the sparkling of your diamond face
On a frayed spot put a little lace
And you make me feel fine
Warm as the mountain sunshine
On the edge of the snow line
In a meadow of columbine”

When we are in our grasslands, we feel like we are close to heaven.  

When we die, we want to be together forever. Our ashes will be mixed, and spread out on these grasslands, “on the edge of the snow line, in a meadow of columbine.”