To heights sublime

That tiny phrase from a bit of verse called "The Fringed Gentian" inspires me. Had I not read four lines of that piece in my favorite author's autobiography, I might never had considered this three-word combination.

As I climbed the Kathio State Park fire tower earlier this week with my family, I remembered the inspiration that Lucy Maud Montgomery drew from this part:

The Alpine Path, so hard, so steep,
That leads to heights sublime.

Her determination led to worldwide fame as the author of the "Anne of Green Gables" books. My dreams aren't that lofty. Yet I embrace the idea of climbing the alpine path.

When we decide to take steps – all 137 of them in the case of this Kathio fire tower – to reach a goal, we set in motion a chain of events. How those events occur depends on our choices.

Our three sons raced to the tower's top to gain the first view. Our middle son descended almost immediately afterwards feeling sickened by the drop. My husband started down next to discourage our youngest son from his dream of sliding down the stairwell for fun. Our oldest son hung back with me to take in as much as possible.

Thousands of forested acres. The Rum River and distant lakes draining out of the "sea" of Mille Lacs Lake. An island point off the peninsula. Humid summer haze hanging on the 360º horizon. A bumble bee buzzing us from the tower window. A whipping wind that Isaac channeled through his T-shirt arms to inflate his entire shirt. The tower's shadow cast on the canopy of trees below.

How that three-word combination suffices: To heights sublime.