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As the touriststhein the scene He looked up, as he often did, to Rainier’s awesoht about the steeple he had left behind, the clean white spire rising above a little church now run by a new minister Did the new minister joke with Julie over lunch? Did he have to s with Rella? Did he erowth, or did they clash? Did anyone place flowers by the modest stone in the churchyard that bore the name of Sara Tobit? Steeples, our man-made mountains, were always meant to outlast the people who built them

Paul wondered if Ian had ever made it to his mountain Had a snowcapped summit somewhere become Ian’s steeple? Paul pictured him in the shadow of a peak, ined the indescribable beauty of sparkling pools and wildflowers in blooean eyes

Mount Rainier is a deadly volcano that will bury everything in its path Yet the mountain is covered in life of all kinds: plants, animals, even species that exist nowhere else on earth The snowcapped peak, the babbling brooks, the low clouds that hang over the valleys, the interconnected life It takes your breath away The seasonal wildflowers, the waterfalls, the patterns of moss—they’re all here on loan Nature is poised to destroy it all When you forget that, Paul thought, you forget to cherish it Maybe everyone should live in the shadow of a volcano Maybe everyone does What a shame it would be to stay away because you were afraid it would end What a shame it would be to miss so much beauty