So, I pulled my car into a grocery store parking lot, on the way home from work, to exhale a bit. It was gloomy. Sheets of rain fell earlier in the day. It made me extremely tired. My eyelids felt like bags of sand.
I reclined my seat all the way back, plopped my head on my oversized, furry car pillow, and stared out the window.
I wasn’t expecting an epiphany, but there it was. Rather, there it stood!
I was captivated by the simplicity of the naked tree against the subtle blue and pink hued sky as the sun began to set. The branches looked like fingers reaching toward the heavens pleading for comfort and attention.
I began to compare myself to the tree. No worries, I wasn’t carted off to a hospital emergency room for a psych evaluation.
It made me think about how people deal with challenges.
Some of the branches are fragile and vulnerable subject to bitter cold, heavy snow and menacing windstorms. Some are too weak to brace against the elements and fail victim to assault; splintered or broken!
Yet other branches are majestic, sturdy, nourished, healthy and impenetrable. They weather the storms and resist being collateral damage. They refuse to go away or wave the white flag.
Life mimics trees. We are intertwined!
It’s really about resilience and the ability to stand firm, bounce back and dare someone to underestimate your power and moxie. Here’s hoping you’re that tree with unflappable branches and sassiness.
One of the first things I tell people about me is that I am a tree person. I find them majestic even in their most decrepit form because as you so eloquently pointed out, trees mimic life. They have many stories to tell. I love looking at a tree and imagining the life of it and the life and lives it has benefited because of its existence. When we built our home over 27 years ago, my neighbor planted a tree. Each season, I captured the change in the tree as it blossomed during Spring, and undressed to prepare for winter. So, I was probably the first to notice when “my tree” became sick. I was disheartened because this tree and I had intertwined our lives. We had been through a lot together. Unfortunately, 2020 was not kind to my tree either. The neighbor hired a crew to chop down the tree, taking away with it all the years of joy, beauty, and seasons of hope it had shared with me. Fortunately, I have tons of pictures of it as well as over 2300 pictures and counting of other trees in my camera file.
Catherine, I love that you love trees, too. 2300 is epic!!! I am sorry to hear about your tree’s demise. Nature really does ”talk” to us in many ways. I am happy you have great memories. I love the water, too. Do you?