1.) the quality or state of being alone or remote from society
2.) a lonely place (as a desert)
I love the first definition. I would be perfectly content to live out in the middle of a vast ranch (cattle only, no horses allowed) and only see people when I went to church or went into town for supplies. Maybe content isn't the right word; delighted might be a better choice. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I don't think that's it. I think I'm just a fuddy-duddy by nature.
When you get right down to it, I just don't enjoy being around people very much. Don't get me wrong; I love Diane and the boys very much and enjoy spending time with them. I could just do without all of the people I encounter each day in traffic (the ones who tell me I'm Number One because I tend to drive the speed limit and slow them down), at work or just out and about in life.
My ideal day would include a solitary ride (in a truck or ATV/UTV) checking and repairing fences on the ranch. The radio, if it's on at all, would be tuned to a news station. There would be a trout stream running through my ranch that would provide countless hours of relaxation and meditation as I drifted a fly or nymph through the pools. I would also have woods to provide hunting opportunities; allowing me to load my freezer with venison, rabbits and birds - my own version of an organic/free-range diet.
Music would be provided by nature itself; a harmony of woods, water and wildlife that brings peace to the soul. I would greet the sunrise each morning with a cup of coffee on the porch - or in the kitchen when the weather forced me indoors. Each night, Diane and I would relish sight of the setting sun; constantly reminded of the vastness and beauty of God's creation.
Instead, I am trapped in suburbia; surrounded by people and noise and the hustle and bustle of twenty-first century life. So I long for that one weekend each year when I sit silently in a treestand - surrounded by the beauty of the driftless region of Wisconsin - waiting patiently for a deer to come within range of my rifle. I love harvesting a deer to fill the freezer, but I really don't care if I get one or not. It's just a chance to sit in the woods and bask in the solitude it provides.
Maybe that's why I love to just sit in a chair beside my smoker; inhaling the aroma of the gently smoking apple wood and slowly cooking meat. I don't really need to sit there; especially since I got a wireless thermometer that lets me monitor the meat and smoker temperature from inside the house. I sit there because it gives me a chance to read quietly or gaze into the small patch of woods that makes up our backyard; watching the turkeys, squirrels and songbirds as they go about their day, and listening to the sounds of the outdoors interrupted only by the occasional sounds of cars going by on the street.
It gives me a brief respite from the hustle and bustle of life as my mind drifts far away to a place of quiet solitude.
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