When I am among the trees, especially the willows and the honey locust, equally the beech, the oaks and the pines, they give off such hints of gladness. I would almost say that they save me, and daily. I am so distant from the hope of myself, in which I have goodness, and discernment, and never hurry through the world but walk slowly, and bow often. Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, “Stay awhile.” The light flows from their branches. And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say, “and you too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.”
I love weeping willows and looked for at least a year for one to accompany Mary Oliver’s poem that mentions them. What a surprise when I noticed this one hiding in plain sight behind my pharmacy which is located on a busy street. The willow, along with a water loving cypress, seem to be part of a small retention pond and drainage system created behind the pharmacy. There’s an auto repair business to the right, so this system probably filters a lot of city waste.
It looks like somebody’s mowed the grass recently near the cypress.
I wonder if the cage like structure could be a trash collecting device. One day, I’ll investigate further.
Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur on the second and forth Thursday of each month. For more tree love visit Paurl at the link below:
I heard this song yesterday right before I read the prompt. It goes “happy and well.” I remembered it as healthy and well. Maybe that’s because I made up a song to the tune of “I’m so Pretty” that goes, “I’m so healthy.” But anyway, this song below is fun and easy to learn. I’m a firm believer in singing and affirmations. I also like her outfit.
I’m wishing all of you good thoughts of being well from deep down in my heart.
I wrote the above on Friday evening which is usually my habit with SoCS. Now it’s Saturday morning and time to publish the post. I have to be honest. Though most of my posts are positive, because that’s what I think the world needs most, I’m not always positive. Sometimes I have waves of anxiety or sadness and grief, like this morning. I’ve been tired a lot lately. I tell myself it’s allergies. Maybe it is partly. So much is blooming. But it’s important to acknowledge all of our feelings.
Wild geese are going over right now as I write this. Their honking reminding me of Mary Oliver’s song. I meant to type poem. No, song…. I’ve shared this poem before here on “Anything is Possible.” The geese tell me to share it again.
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
Mary Oliver
Experience teaches us that the waves come and go. We learn to surf or to dive deep. The waves always pass.
…
Today’s prompt was: “deep.”
Dive deep into the Stream of consciousness with Linda Hill at:
Here are the rules:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
8. Have fun!
Spread the word:
Anything is Possible! 