In looking at my first twenty posts here at RJsMosaic, I see it is about time for another story. I do love telling stories, so here goes.

To get a full 30-year pension, I moved to New Jersey in 1996 as that was then where my job was going. When I hit my 30 years in 2000, we moved back to Indiana and bought an 80-year-old farmhouse on nearly 3 acres of land. Most importantly, it had a 24 x 48 ft barn that allowed me to start my own furniture making business. I was only 54 at the time, so I had the energy necessary to do a remodel and keep the property up.

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Finally, getting to the crux of this post, the highest point on the property was at the northwest corner. Years before, there was a chicken coop there, but all that remained was a section of the concrete floor. I used some of the things that were taken off the house renovation to build a small garden shed as shown in the picture above.

I purposefully left about four-feet of the cement floor for my meditation place. The picture above shows the fourth generation of the glider that was essential for contemplation of whatever was on my mind. When I went there, I told my wife “I am going up on the mountain”. Of course, that most often included a nap.

I spent many a pleasant Spring, Summer, and Fall at my “fortress of solitude”.

I have been in my RetCom home now for going on three years, and “Up on the mountain” is one of the places I miss the most. I loved lying up there and watching the birds feed at the feeder about 30 feet away. I do have a patio here now that could accommodate a glider, but the scenery comes no way near what it was “on the mountain”, so I don’t see that happening.

I close out this story with some pictures from up on the mountain. Click on any one of them to see a larger view.