GET LOST. Not on a hiking trail, that would be dangerous and far too much work. I mean in the car. Especially if you have a car with great views, like a convertible. Drop the top and find some unassuming road and take it. Just wander around and see the hill and its homes from new angles. Eventually the roads will dump you back out on the highway or on a main drag and you’ll find your way back to the village.

DRINK. Once you’ve settled in here and your provisioned and supplied, play the hermit and just stay here in the woods with Mr. John Daniels (when you’ve been through enough life together with Jack you can call him John) or a bottle of Bushmills and just enjoy the peace of the mountain. You may hear a chainsaw in the distance, or the echo’s of a dog bark. The sounds of the mountain are quite different from the sounds of the city at home. What you won’t hear is a constant stream of cars going buy or the annoying bleat of rap/mariachi/polka (insert your most hated music style here) booming from some inconsiderate driver.

BREATHE. The mountain has created a whole different concoction of stuff to inhale. It’s nothing like you’re used to in the flatland. Each time you take it in--its ambrosia, or lobster thermadore, or filet mignon (very rare). Each drag you take off the hill calmly and effortlessly dissolves the tensions and pressures of the city. Enjoy it, savor it, be aware of it as it feeds your brain and improves your outlook. Let the experience of such a simple pleasure alter your perceptions and your perspective.

TAKE IN THE SUNSET. In the evening as the day goes to sleep, pour yourself a glass of wine (keep the bottle handy) light up the citronella candles and find a place or two on the deck to relax and then watch what happens.  The street is called Sunset View for a reason. The mountain doesn’t give you the long fingers of sunrays or the colors that the smog makes for you in the city. And while there certainly is beauty in the sun going down behind such majestic mountains, my eye has always been caught more by what is going on directly around you. The sunlight in its deep oranges and yellows dappled across the hillside and the cabin by the trees is a pleasure you can almost taste.