DH and I spent our tax refund on a mountaintop "retreat" nearly a year ago that we treat as our sanctuary. It's 2.5 acres, about 50 miles from our house, up a long winding dirt road. We've added an old travel trailer where we can hang out, spend the night, and do a little cooking. I've brought my art supplies up there so I can sit and sketch or paint the scenery.

During the day, the skies are clear, the air is clean, and the only sounds we hear are ravens and other birds. Rarely do we hear a vehicle or any other human activity, and we can't see any of our neighbors. We spent an entire day once watching clouds form from wisps of vapor, then grow and slowly float downwind, then another cloud would form, and another.

At night when the sky is clear, we watch the stars, with the whole Milky Way above us. Sometimes we see shooting stars, and we've seen the space station and the odd satellite as well.

While we're up there, we just relax, hang out, and live in the moment. There's no pressure to do anything or be anywhere. We can hike around the hills, or look for interesting rocks -- geodes and agates are plentiful. We are looking forward to seeing the wildflowers again this spring -- the whole place was brilliantly painted with them last year, and this year promises to be even better.

This is all my DH and I need for spirituality, reverence for nature, and pure stress free relaxation and joy at being alive. There's no phone service up there (cellular or otherwise), no internet, no electricity (except solar), no water (except what we bring with us), and nothing much else except us and the ravens.

Lots of people probably believe DH and I are headed for hell because we don't go to their specific church or temple or whatever. I think heaven and hell are all around us, and whichever one you're in right now is because of your own beliefs. We are all part of a natural cycle of birth, growth, death and renewal. Don't need someone else's Sky Daddy to give meaning to my life, I can find all I need up here.