Lake Alturas (Prompt #4)

When I was very young (3 years old) my single mother with six mouths to feed between the ages of 3-11, often times need help from her family to take care of her children while she worked her three jobs.

I often believe that I was the luckiest of all of her children because I was the youngest. This meant that I didn't have school to bind me from being able to go on spontaneous nature adventures with my grandmother. Although, they weren't too spontaneous as she would have to ask my mom the night before. Plus, I knew they were coming because my grandmother would tell me to go pour soapy water all over a patch of dirt. Doing this made the worms come to the surface, thus making my job of collecting our bait for the next day's fishing expedition very easy.

Whenever we would go on our mini-excursions the majority of the time it was at Lake Alturas. It was about a 2 hour car ride from where we used to live in Idaho. My grandmother taught me how to fish, swim, hike, us the natural facilities, build a fire, put out a fire, make the perfect s'mores, listen to the woods, listen to the animals and just all and all she taught me to love and respect nature. It was something God had made for us and so we needed to keep it clean and treat it with respect the way we do with our bodies and our temples.

Whenever my family would go on family vacations every summer it was to Lake Alturas. It was cheap and when your a single mom with six kids, cheap is a necessity. My mom also would reiterate the teachings that my grandmother had already given to me when we would visit the lake.

Lake Alturas is where my love affair with nature and being a good steward of the world we live in began. It is where many of my favorite memories of my family were formed. My entire family still talks about the good times that were had at that lake. My entire family also has a loving relationship with nature and the rugged terrain of Idaho and Utah. I am so grateful for my grandmother who taught me to truly love this wonderful world we live in. I feel the closest to her whenever I go into the mountains. I also feel closer to my Father in Heaven when I am in the woods. I do not think that is a coincidence.