Simply being

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Not that I want to be a god or a hero. Just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone. -Czeslaw Milosz, poet and novelist (30 Jun 1911-2004)

Ah what a lovely thought.

In these uncertain times I wonder what it would be like to simply be a tree – to live, breath, take the sun, take the rain, the snow, whatever “life” throws whilst simply putting back fresh into the air and joy into the hearts of those who love nature.

To simply BE instead of trying to worry about all the consequences, the emotions, the 180° turns that life often takes. Perhaps that is to truly be a god or a hero, being always available, being always even-tempered (ok when a tree falls and causes havoc it is often due to its roots over which it has no control or a storm, again no control), being always there.

I love life and living, emulating a tree might be the way to go.

Serenity

Is a walk on wooded paths,

Hugging a forest tree,

Climbing a rocky slope,

 

Looking out over the alps:

 

This is how I ground myself.

Of trees and life’s cycle

And bad verse

A seed

A sapling

A tree

Water, sun and wind

You survived them all

And grew tall

Animal, plant and man

You offered shelter

And still stood solid

An old tree,

Loss of strength

A violent storm

You fell

Discovered,

Your wood still useable

Lovingly carved

You became a bench

Still serving

Though “dead”

Still deserving

May we all be as useful!

The advantages and beauty of a gray, rainy, November day

Admittedly when that title popped into my mind this morning, I had a one-word answer: NONE

But the thought kept buzzing around in my head as I went to the post office for the mail, to a friend’s house to deliver some magazines and to the service station for gas. And I actually thought of a few (in no particular order, and with no evident importance).

• The glory of not having to leave a warm house.
• Paradoxically, the fun of leaving said house for lunch with family or friends – when the skies are gray and the weather unwelcoming, the warmth of one’s fellow humans is even more precious.
• Not wanting to be out and about means cleaning a drawer instead offing shopping, thus producing two benefits: no money spent; a clean and tidy draw.
• The excuse to not rake the leaves.
• The lack of guilt at taking the car instead of walking.
• The few remaining leaves seem like beaming spots of color in the gray.
• The cloud patterns are interesting.
• My sister’s wind chimes gently remind me of the presence in my heart of those who are no longer physically here.

Then I decided to “look for the beauty” in that gray and discovered that if you do look, you will find it – including the light rainbow on the lake and the spot of sun that appeared (just for me: I would like to think that it was my reward for taking the question seriously) for two minutes.

And I couldn’t help but take the thought a step further: what if when our lives seem full of only dreary gray events, we actually looked for the beauty – we would probably find it. So from now on (most days anyway) I’ll strive to, instead of seeing the gray, look for the spots of beauty – it can only improve my mood like those fifteen minutes this morning.

 

Out and About

I woke up this morning rested and relaxed: so relaxed that it took me 30 minutes to get up after I awoke! (Note to self: colons and semi colons work just as well as … dots, - hyphens – and parentheses. Question – should I really fight my natural inclination to use the afore-mentioned?).

But I digress: upon awaking, I felt the “need” to take a hike. I was going to label this “First hike of the season”, but – if to some it would have been a hike, to others it would have been a walk in the woods and to yet others – my brother, my sons and all my nephews, it would have been a stroll in the mountains.  So I got out the jacket (our three days of summer have disappeared), the umbrella and my camera and set off on one of my favorite rounds: through the village, along the road into the forest, up to the “hole of the wolf”, up to the next road and back down into the woods again for a circular loop that takes care of about 2/3 of those daily 10’000 steps. Now, for the other 1/3, will pedaling in the air in front of the Roland Garros (Paris Open) men’s final tennis match this afternoon qualify?

                                                                                     

Streams that normally disappear two days after the last snow are still in full spate, moss is growing everywhere (not just on the north side, so don'tcount on it for directions)

and the pines and firs still show their spring-green fingernail polish on the tips.

Return to the chalet – the sun had come out.