The city of Plymouth has been removing ash trees from park areas where I walk. I knew they were going to cut down trees because early last spring I saw brightly painted orange dots on many tree trunks in the park area where I walk. Still I held onto hope for the trees as the summer came and went and fall also arrived and left and the trees still stood. But shortly after the weather turned cold, the crews arrived to begin sawing down and shredding the marked trees. I can sometimes see the crews working from my bedroom window.
Sigh…another reminder of…
Life’s One Constant — Change
I’m feeling sad about the changes to the park that lies beside and behind our house on the other side of the pond. The happy news is that I haven’t seen any orange dots on the trees that grow on the far side of the pond behind our house.
View of our neighborhood from the far side of the pond, beloved trees intact
But head up the hill on the path and it is a different story. I hardly recognize the place.
I would like to greet the changes without sadness but I am feeling sad for the loss of the trees. As a part of my mindfulness practice, I’m working on simply allowing and accepting my sadness with equanimity, letting myself feel these feelings of sadness with compassion and love towards myself.
And I send prayers of thanks and loving kindness to the trees as I walk through the devastated landscape. I can almost hear them answer my prayers, “We were happy to shade you on your walks and welcome birds and squirrels to our branches. And now we welcome our return to the earth to nourish new life in a never-ending cycle.”
Praying
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patcha few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorwayinto thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.— Mary Oliver
What changes are you experiencing in your life, my friends? Can you allow yourself to feel your feelings whatever they are about those changes?
May you walk in beauty.
Note about today’s photos: A few photos I made yesterday of last summer’s flowers still standing in my flower beds and a few photos of the downed trees, with gratitude for the cycles of life.
\
0 Comments