I'm at "The Office" with puppy dog Tallie. This is not a normal office for it is outside in Hope Valley in Alpine county. It's the Office; it was here that I used to do my school work, making up study outlines to grading papers. Now it is still used when I have a composition of some sort to write. As always I come here to listen to the river. For as this is a good location to work it is always, even when the river is frozen under a blanket of snow, a place to renew my spirit.There is a desk/conference table/chair, but they are all combined in a large tree round left over from an interesting story. The roof is a lone Lodgepole Pine which has shielded us from sudden, heavy downpours. The filing cabinet is my pack hanging from a broken off dead branch. The heating and air conditioning is provided by the sun, clouds, and wind and is adjusted by where I set up my chair relative to the bushes and tree. And if the cooling system breaks down in the summer there is always the river.The background music is brought to us by the birds, today it's the familiar song of the American Robin, the trill of various blackbirds, the wing beats of a pair of Common Mergansers, and the deep "humph, humph' of the SootyGrouse that one feels more than hears. There is no cell phone or internet service. The office is on the inside of a large bend in the river forming a horseshoe so most people cut across the neck leaving us in solitude.Across the river and at the head of the valley is the Sierra Crest, now covered with snow as are the intervening hills. The snow is melting in the sunlight so the river is running high today. Most of the mountain peaks are old friends and some are awaiting an introduction. Right now the mountains have a background of clear deep blue sky. On the east side of this valley just behind me and across the river is a wall of lodgepoles from which occasionally deer or coyote appear. On the other side of the valley amongst the conifers are some of the largest grooves of aspens in the Sierra.At this time of the year the white of the mountains are reflected in the ruffled waters of the river while in October it is the gold of aspens which are in the still, mirror smooth waters.
