One Step Closer to Heaven: Lake Arrowhead, California

The words below were written in 2011 after we had moved from Los Angeles to Lake Arrowhead, and I had decided to begin a nature blog.  After six years of the mountain life, we were ready to move back down closer to family.  We now live in a lovely area just outside of Los Angeles.  While my horses are no longer in my backyard, they are only five minutes away and a big part of my daily life.  In addition, our sweet little home has a lovely unobstructed view out front of a sloping green golf course, the elegant curves of distant hills beyond, and plenty of open blue sky.  Out back is a patio, a bit of green grass, and a small hillside full of flowers and trees that, along with my daily food supply, attract numerous birds and critters, giving me endless hours of feasting on nature as I continue looking' out my back door.  --Debbie 2018

Lake Arrowhead 2011

Recently my husband and I pursued a life-long dream of living closer to nature: We moved from Los Angeles to Lake Arrowhead, California.  For us it is the perfect choice. We are still close enough to family living in Los Angeles and San Diego, even close enough to drive up and back the same day.  We are out of the big city with its traffic, air pollution, crowds and chaos, yet we are not living in isolation either.  What we discovered up here in the San Bernardino Mountains was a lovely close-knit community of residents who actively support each other through organizations like Rotary and Soroptimist, as well as those with religious affiliations.  There are shops, restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, schools, libraries, a hospital...in short a fully equipped wonderful small town, all built around a lovely lake right in the middle of a mountain. 

We were fortunate to find a beautiful house with a breathtaking view of the mountains and lake at a price that was well below a comparable house in Los Angeles, so we took a deep breath and moved.

I wake each morning to birdsong, sit on my deck with a cup of coffee, and watch the ravens soar right at eye level as I am literally above the tree tops.  Up here I get the full force of mountain winds, which many residents find disturbing and disruptive, but I have come to love and admire.  I am in walking distance to forest trails, or I can just sit and look out my front or back door and catch a glimpse of wildlife.  As my husband puts it, we are "one step closer to heaven."

Being a writer, I began keeping a nature-related journal shortly after we moved, but it occurred to me as I was writing an entry for my baking blog, Baking Daze in LA, that it might be fun to turn my nature journal into a blog.  And so here is the beginning.  I plan to write about ravens, swallows, quail, bobcats, coyotes and bears, as well as flowers and trees, birds and bees, rain, FOG, snow and, yes, WIND.  (Those who live here know why I capitalized fog and wind.)  I'll write what I see as well as what I learn as I research and inquire.

As for the title, well, that came to mind immediately.  I have always loved the song "Lookin' Out my Back Door" written by John Fogerty* and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival:

Just got home from Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Got to sit down, take a rest on the porch.
Imagination sets in, pretty soon I'm singin',
Doot, doot, doo, Lookin' out my back door.

There's a giant doing cartwheels, a statue wearin' high heels.
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
A dinosaur Victrola list'ning to Buck Owens.
Doot, doot, doo, Lookin' out my back door.

My favorite line, Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn, I used to sing to myself just sitting in my back yard in Los Angeles watching our cats and dog, as well as the squirrels, birds, raccoons, opossums, even ducks that adopted us.  Now I can really add to the menagerie!

To my potential readers out there, I would love to hear your comments.  Please feel free to correct or inform  using your knowledge and expertise or to add you own similar experiences.

 Bother me tomorrow, today, I'll buy no sorrows.
Doot, doot, doo, Lookin' out my back door.

*To those who think Fogerty's song refers to drugs, he insists it was written for his three year old son after reading a Dr Seuss book.  Doesn't matter to me why this was written.  I just love the utter joy it conveys.  Drugs are not the only source of euphoria and joy.  Ask any creative artist about the high they experience when writing, painting, composing, or performing.  Ask any parent holding their newborn baby.  Or any dog owner looking into the eyes of their adoring pooch.  Ask anyone who spends time riding a horse, scaling a rock wall, sailing, skiing, rollerblading, or just working in a garden or walking a forest trail.  Or you can simply ask someone who is sitting on their deck, lookin' out their back door.