How 3 days in the mountains helped us feel at peace

A sign nailed to a utility pole next to the house we’d rented in Pine said, “Quiet please.”

It was blissfully quiet, sunny and 78 degrees.

I took a deep breath of the cleaner, pine-scented air. My neck and shoulders relaxed. I could hear the others breathe it in, too.

It was the first time all five of us had been together since May when we’d sat in my backyard, 6 feet apart, and sipped frozen Bellinis.

Getting us to Pine meant hundreds of messages in our group text and a couple of video calls to pick a weekend, agree on a house, decide what food to take and how many bottles of wine we’d need.

With negative COVID-19 test results, we piled into Rhonda’s van, wearing matching T-shirts we’d bought for a canceled Disneyland trip in March.

Niki had gotten engaged in June, so I hung a banner that said, “She said yes,” and Rhonda crowned us with gold-leaf headbands, the one for Niki with a swatch of white tulle.

In the kitchen, Ally and Carrie made charcuterie boards. We opened the wine.

We sat on the back porch, taking in the view of the Mogollon Rim. Our chatter and laughter floated into the night.

“I really needed this,” Ally said. We all did.

Those three days were a refuge from the roar of our daily lives, the stress of working and worrying. We hiked, watched deer and elk, read, played games and star gazed.

We could be close, hugging, piling on couches and squeezing into the hot tub. We talked about the things you don’t talk about over the phone or in text messages. It felt so normal.

Science would tell us that spending time with friends makes us release more oxytocin, the happy hormone, and lowers stress and blood pressure.

We didn’t need anyone to tell us that. We could feel it.

That was the sign we needed.