Taylor Mountain is a 1,000 acre gem in the crown of the numerous open space preserves that dot Sonoma County. I was enjoying a day free from obligations today and hiked to the mountain’s 1,380 foot summit. Once at the top I was higher than the hawks and turkey vultures that circled below me, the nearly 360 degree vista was breathtaking. It’s easy to feel inspired at a place like this and I think that’s what prompted this snippet of conversation that I happened upon on my way down.

A woman was hiking with her three small children the oldest, a girl around five years old, turned to her mom at the moment I was walking past and asked, “Mama, what do you think heaven looks like?” The hillside we were standing on is dotted with majestic oak trees and the grasses Ireland green from recent rains, the clouds wispy brushstrokes across a robin’s egg blue sky. We could see across the valley below many miles to the north and south and to the western foothills and beyond. To the little girl perhaps this was what  heaven looked like, she just needed confirmation from mom.

As a long time elementary school teacher and father of twins, being asked questions like the one posed by the little girl were once a routine part of my day. Kids unfiltered view of the world is so refreshing to be around, they see it as it is and just let it fly. Their wonder and inquisitiveness is a breath of fresh air in our “been there, done that” world.

When you think about it, what a strange concept heaven is. You die and your spirit (essence, prana, mojo…whatever) goes “up.”  I know it’s up because when virtually every major league ballplayer is rounding third base after hitting a home run, they point both of their index fingers skyward and gaze gratefully towards the heavens. The moon, stars and galaxies are known collectively as “the heavens.” They are, after all, “up there.” Humans through time immemorial have looked to the stars for inspiration and knowledge. No wonder we think of heaven as up.

So anyway when you finally make it “up there”, you’re met by white clad angels who float by atop whipped cream clouds to greet you. There may be harps involved. Someone by the name of Peter may review your life in his “naughty or nice” book. Everyone and everything is exactly as it should be. There are no words to describe the beauty. You stay here for all of eternity. My concept of heaven is a bit different.

You don’t need to wait for the end of your life to get to heaven, there are little pieces of heaven everywhere. My son’s eyes are bluer than the mountain sky, my daughter’s eyes a shade of hazel previously unknown to humankind. If that ain’t heaven, I don’t know what is. A day spent with the ones you love in a place that you love? Heavenly. The waves and the wind, the sand and the shorebirds. Some call it the beach but I call it heaven. 

Heaven is up, it’s down, it’s all around, it’s within you, without you. Heaven is right in front of us, we simply need to open our eyes to see it.