Thursday, October 21, 2010

Tree Wisdom #1


Injury doesn't mean you stop growing.


It means you grow stronger.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Making things soft



In my neck of the wood, the landscape is made soft by nature. Tree trunks are covered with green moss and rock sport mini environments of moss and pine needles. The leaves, falling silently, now brittle will soften and deteriorate as winter progresses.

It is quiet and the sound of running water is a hushing backdrop to the bird calls in the distance.

I think about last Sunday's Bud Rue Walk for Social Justice and when walking with Barbara Leo, president of the NEPA Audubon, how she would often remark, "Did you hear that? That's a cardinal calling its mate. It's somewhere in there." And sure enough, as I stood, scanning the branches, I heard the call and saw the bird, it's red feathers bright among the green pine.

It was the first bird that I had ever consciously spotted and I think about how so often if we don't know what we are listening for, we don't hear it.

Unrecognized bird calls break the silence, just as the blue green pine diffuse the bright blue sky. And the moment in the woods softens my soul.