Southwest Sierra #93 – The Dragonfly

This week, I have decided to share a story from my early teens. The story takes place during the winter when my family was snowed in at the Golden Bear Mine Bunkhouse. Anyone who has spent time in the snow knows how it muffles sound. For months on end, our home existed in the quiet. The quiet of the snow, the quiet of no visitors.

One clear morning, the quiet was broken by the sound of a low-flying helicopter. We ran outside and searched the sky, but the tall pine trees behind the house blocked our view. It was flying north towards Downieville, following the power lines. We thought that we heard it land on top of the mountain above, but weren’t quite sure. Pacific Bell (later AT&T) had cut a new road to the top of the mountain the summer before. They were planning on building a facility of some sort up there.

My two younger brothers and I quickly decided to hike up the mountain to see if the helicopter had indeed landed. We pulled on our snow pants, boots, and jackets, and off we went. Dad had given us permission to walk on the snowmobile trail to where the power lines crossed the road about a half mile up the hill. (He only let us do that if conditions were right). When we got to the power lines and ventured off the well-packed snowmobile trail, we were sinking up to our knees. The steep mountainside loomed above us.

We decided to pretend that we were on another planet. The planet had this strange white surface, and we had seen a giant dragonfly (the helicopter). As intergalactic explorers, we were following the path of the dragonfly to locate it. We kept up a good rate of speed by taking turns breaking trail up the steep mountain. The front person would rotate to the back when they got winded.

When we finally crested the top of the mountain, there before us was the giant dragonfly along with three aliens (men).The look on their faces when they saw us was priceless. They looked startled and surprised as if they didn’t believe their eyes. When we got close enough to talk, we explained to them that we lived nearby.

The aliens told us to wait. They went behind the dragonfly and had a discussion amongst themselves. When they returned, they told us that the pilot was going to take us for a ride! They had us draw straws to see who got to sit up front and Jason won. It was a four-seater. We climbed in, buckled up, and put on the headphones. Up we went. We had to speak through the mic to talk to each other. This made us giggle. We were so excited!

The pilot took us on a short flight, circling the house and surrounding area. Mom and Dad came out of the house and waved as we flew over. Even though they couldn’t see who was inside, they had a feeling that it was us. We could see Dad’s snowmobile trail, the nearby Mott Cabin, Gary Arnold’s cabin, and the Ruby Mine. Suddenly, our world seemed so small! The dragonfly landed back on top of the mountain, and we got out. We thanked the aliens again and again. We joyfully ran all the way back down the mountain to report our adventure to headquarters!