Please note that the memories and artwork contained herein are copyrighted 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

Rain in the mountains

I can see the hangar bay and door opening so clearly. There was a puddle of water. The sky was all grey and the dirt was dark from the water and the vegetation was so green from the rain that it looked neon. There are a few scraggly trees outside of the door, so this can't be the main entrance to the bay. There is an area that I believe is dirt road. The walls are wood. The air is very damp and cool, but not cold. Just damp and cool. I am wearing a coat that has a collar that comes up close around my neck and keeps the chill off. My hands are stuffed into my pocket. It is like I am waiting for someone. I am alone. Is this a barn or a hangar? It seems more like a barn. There are rope and tools hanging on the wall.

I look outside the place and another pilot is coming up the road. He is wearing his hat and uniform and a longer military coat that is open. His hat is not scruntched. It is sharp as if new. He looks so young. His nose is long and somewhat pointed. He was either Schafer, Lubbert or Gestenburg. He is coming from the right hand side of the opening of the "barn?" and the road curves up and around and to the left of the opening to another building, which may be a farm house. What am I doing here? I am waiting. I watch the fellow that I see walk past the opening. He is intent of going up the road. He is walking at a steady pace. He doesn't see me standing in the barn. I make no effort to get his attention.

I look at my watch, and then peek out after the pilot that has just walked by. He is making his way up the road. I step out and look around me. The storm is not about to end. The pilot is walking westward where the clouds have lightened up. There is mist/fog sitting low at the base of some rocky looking hills that are southwestward and behind the barn structure. I am now facing the opening of the barn. There are more buildings off to the left, which was my right when the memory started.

The air smells so good. I feel like I am thinking about following the other pilot. I follow him but not too closely. The road goes up in elevation. I can look back and there is a series of farming type structures that are nestled in a little ravine. It is actually quite charming. I walk up the hill to where the house is. It looks like a small cottage that is painted white.

I have no idea where this is. There are hills all around me. The hills are like those in the Rhineland and are covered with forested vegetation. It's beautiful! The ground is not muddy, but it is wet and firm. The road goes down the hill where there is another sharper slope. I can see the other pilot down a ways about 100 yards down the road. He is at a point where it is just about to to turn. The right side of the road has a steep slope going up and the left side has a steep slope going down. More trees are all around. The light that I mentioned seems to fade away behind a hillside that is across some kind of ravine or small valley that I cannot see. It starts to rain again as the light goes away.

The other man has disappeared around the corner and has not seen me. At least he didn't appear to see me. I can hear my boots hit the packed gravel and the rain falling makes a surrounding noise that is gentle and comforting except that the temperature suddenly drops. I shrug my shoulders up to push the warm fuzzy collar of my coat closer to my chin and block any air from coming down to my neck.

I get to the curve in the road and realize that it snakes back and forth in a zig zag pattern. This hillside is part of a fairly good sized mountain. There are lots of pine trees. I walk further down with the feeling of gravity pulling me down the road. The other man is not anywhere in sight and so I figure that he must have already made it around the curve. I am almost regretting not saying something to him when he walked past the barn opening. The sky has darkened considerably now and I fear that the rain will increase also. I try and pick up my pace down the road.

I have the impression that I am trying to get to a place that serves warm drinks and food like a small cottage inn. The place that I am thinking of has only one story of floors. The walls are painted white and the inside is all natural wood with a large stone fireplace. You can see the construction of the roof since there is no ceiling. Just wooden beams. The floor is also wood. I see the others and they great me warmly. They ask me where I have been and where someone else is. I say something to the effect that I was waiting for them, but I got cold and tired of waiting and decided to come down to the lodge?. They kinda laugh and tell me to pull up a seat near their table which is next to the fireplace which is burning with a nice warm fire. I believe that it is about 3 or 4 oclock in the afternoon.

I pull up a chair that is made of wood that looks like what I call today as a captains chair. I prop my feet up and cross them on the fireplace and slowly begin to unbutton my coat while I am seated. I am not yet ready to take my coat off. It feels good to be inside. Someone comes up to me and asks me what I want to drink. I think I ask for something that reminds me today of hot wine with spices. I am given a good sized cup of this and it goes down well. I listen to the others talk as the fire snaps. There are two men sitting to my right and about four to my left. We are all musing about the days events. It is quite obvious that we are not on duty. I have no idea what occasion would have removed us from the battlefront to this lovely mountainous region.

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