Today is another one of those days when we were supposed to reward ourselves by going outside. The goal was to find a tree near you and ask your spirit why you like this tree. What can it promise you? Then use streaming to explore how accepting you can be of this place, this day.
Ok, so here it is 27 degrees outside and the yard is still covered with snow, so I am going to write about the two trees I can see by looking out my window. One is a spruce and the other is a weeping willow. I have always had this affinity for weeping willows. Maybe it is because my father had planted a whole series of them, four I think, along the left side of our house the day I came to live with them. That’s funny, I had not thought about that in forever. He said they reminded him of all the tears that my mother had shed over not being able to conceive and the joy that being able to bring me home had given her. He said this tree for him was a mixture of recognition of joy and beauty. This tree makes me feel like I am at home. The same is true for the spruce trees in our yard. We had a front yard full of them when I was a little girl. I used to crawl underneath them as a little girl collecting pinecones and then I would make things out of them. I remember making wreaths and turkeys and candleholders. I used to remember spending time sniffing them because I loved the way they smelled. And I loved lying under them. There was something comforting about lying under these fragrant branches and they reminded me of large fans that would cool me when the wind blew. And the needles that dropped to the ground as they died still smelled and made a comforting blanket. My trees. They bring me back to my youth and our house on Kingsland Street. The spruces in the front and the weeping willows on the side. They both bordered entrances into our house. You had to pass through the spruces as you climbed onto the front porch. If you were going in the side door, then you passed by these beautiful weeping willows. These trees remind me of a time and place in my life where I knew I was loved and wanted. They were the signs that I was home. Funny, how I have been living in this house for five years now and just now realized why I love my front yard so much. It is a reminder of the people who taught me how to love.