Constellations

Constellations : With the fire dimming to coals, and the final strings of white smoke wafting upward into

the heavens, I curl up inside my sleeping bag. I tilt my head back and gaze above at the million

various gems scattered across the royal hide of a mysterious and mythological velvet beast. I

watch the glowing moon creep through the stars towards the opposite horizon like a fox slowly

hunting its prey. Its shimmering aura casts a beautiful iridescence across the pine-covered terrain

of my camp and the purple mountains rising in the backdrop. The New Mexico night sky is the

brightest darkness I have ever seen. A comforting feeling of warmth envelopes me as the evening

air chills. The bond between this beautiful facet of nature and me remains unbroken. It becomes

a part of me. It helps me to understand who and what I am. It gives me a place in the vast sky, as

if I were one of its stars.

In the beautiful rugged backcountry of Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, New

Mexico, I am as isolated as humanly possible in today’s modern world. Sans the political and

technological distractions synonymous with the year 2002, I can really be at peace with nature

and myself. I spent this nirvana with a crew of nineteen brothers I never knew I had, bonding

with them as much as I did myself. As we climbed the challenging Mt. Baldy towering 12,441

feet above us, the strong sense of brotherhood became an invisible hand placed on the shoulders

of our crew, guiding and pushing us. From this mountain, we could see the peaks in distant

Colorado seem closer than the small shimmering towns in the valleys below. This grand vista

was a view of the glories of nature from above and a vision of ourselves from within. However,

while the daily activities of hiking, climbing, and trail-building required complete trust and belief

in each other, the true bonding occurred every night with the heart to heart fireside chats we had.

The fire was a solace from...