Volcanoes come along

Nothing is more comforting than driving home with old friends. In this case I am driving home from Everett at 0500 on July 3, 2005. And the old friend is Mount Rainier, an inactive volcano. How can that be? A mountain of all things! Well on a clear sunny day that mountain hovers on the horizon for nearly the entire two hundred mile trip, a stalwart solid point in the flashing scenery. Not constantly by any means. Today it is visible from many vantage points - all via the freeways. Facing west ward I catch glimpses of the snow covered crown of the fourteen thousand five hundred foot landmark of Washington state. It directs water to aquafers in all directions down its slopes.
At this time of day there is no problem glancing at the horizon when I know the mountain will peek out between forest covered hills where I saw it many times before. Now as a driver it is more critical that I know where to expect the vision which as a passenger years earlier I had excitedly pointed out to the driver, who in the midst of hustling cars and semi trucks, could only nod and say, "I can't look now!"
The scant traffic is the key to enjoying the scenery and especially allowing me to scan the horizon for the peak mountai climbers long to conquer. Many notable people climbed the south slope and reached the summit. Thousands come to ski the slopes from October until March. Many more thousands hike the trails into the wilderness from April until October - some for the exercise and some to keep track of the wild flowers found only in alpine altitudes.
I simply like it being there as a point of reference. It appears again after I pass Ellensburg and is joined by Mount Adams, an eleven thousand foot mountain close to the notorious former eleven thousand foot Mount St. Helens who blew three thousand feet off its top in 1980. These mountains are visible from the highway between Prosser and Richland - on a clear day of course.
And the their appearances help the miles go by more pleasantly. When the weather doesn't cooperate I still know where they are. And I expect them to remain for a long time to come.
Naomi Sherer