Days like yesterday were why we moved to the mountains. The weather was perfect and unseasonably warm. The sunshine brilliant, the scenery beautiful. Waterfalls were frothing down the mountain from the recent rain. If we had a two hour commute each way we never would have begun the trip. Instead, we were already here.
It was every bit as good as I’d imagined. We took Nessie to a nearby dog park hidden in the hills and known only to locals. When a big dog jumped the puppy fence and pinned Nessie to the ground on her back, we decided to move on to other options. But we had them.
We ended up on a green ledge near the mountaintop where only hikers go. Nessie explored and we just soaked up the warm light and took deep breaths of the crisp, clean air. We were in no hurry.
We loaded back up and drove to my favorite Starbucks. Nessie knew exactly where to get water. Suzie got a nice bathroom. I got coffee having not yet convinced the girls of its value. We took the back road home with 150 mile views in either direction.
Then we saw taillights ahead and stopped cars stretching far around a curve into the distance. But something was off. There were people standing on the side of the road and cars pulled to the shoulder at the back end of the line.
I slowed and moved to the left lane then realized I was looking at a secondary accident. The back end of a car was protruding from under the trailer of a semi. There were no emergency vehicles to be seen. I pulled over and tried to remember my college first aid certification class.
As I ran the afternoon sun painted the mountains with warm gold. The wind blew in swirling breaths around me. I felt light on my feet and jogged without effort. It was a beautiful day. So quiet.
I reached the back of the truck and saw immediately there was nothing I could do. The top of the car was sheared off to the trunk and both people were beyond help. The passenger door had been forced open and the man inside abandoned. Someone was climbing through the broken glass of the back window, squeezing to the front seat to check on the driver.
As best as I could tell they simply drove full speed into the back of the stopped eighteen wheeler. Who knows why? A motherly woman stood by taking pictures of the bodies with her iPhone. Another man quietly told her to stop.
Sirens sounded in the distance and my training informed me I was now just a bystander in the way. I walked back toward our car. A man stopped me and asked if they were alive. When I said no he cursed, doubled over with a moan and wailed that he didn’t need to hear that.
As a local, I knew a back way home over the mountain. Traffic from the primary accident was stacked up for miles. I thought of every accident I’d ever seen. I thanked Suzie for being my copilot. The mountain was beautiful. Waterfalls cascaded on both sides of the winding road. We were truly lucky to be here.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
