“This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.”
“Come with me into the woods where spring is advancing, as it does, no matter what, not being singular or particular, but one of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.”
-Mary Oliver
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.”
Carmel at the Santa Lucia Preserve, an idyllic retreat among lichen dripping oaks, green slopes, vistas, birds, deer, and coyote. The alive ecosystem of the coastal environment is present in a vital way to this tired body. Yesterday’s wedding already a fading memory. The Barn, the view of the mountains for the ceremony, the relaxed vibe, all a part of me now, but I’m present in this moment without reflection on yesterday.
It’s all about the trees here. The way they stand in artistic poses and profound presence. They are peace and calm.
And the quiet! It seems they are thinking deep thoughts, still becoming more. It is a vital pervading mood that permeates – introspective and wise.
I am out with the trees now. Sweet soft breeze. They receive what’s offered with such grace. Later there will be a wild wind and a hot sun, and they will provide respite for some winged ones. They will shelter dozing deer, and yawning coyotes. They will talk to their brethren and commune with the others. Later still they will enjoy a moon bath and stellar sparkling light on their leaves. Their roots will reach deeper into the earth and their crown to the heavens with their hearts wide open to all that is. These trees.
