The Miracle of Trees
restoring life's wonder...
"I feel a great regard for trees; they represent age and beauty and the miracles of life and growth.” Louise Dickinson Rich
For some reason I have always loved trees. Whenever I am on a road trip, I purposely look at the trees I pass along the way, eagerly searching for what I like to call “the perfect tree to draw”.
Besides writing, sketching is another personal passion of mine and has been since childhood. Even when I look back at some of my earliest sketches, they usually had at least one tree in them.
Among my favorites are willow trees and oak trees - each for their own reasons.
The Weeping Willow tree represents flexibility, its branches literally bending in the wind; providing us a guide of sorts, of how to survive turbulent times without breaking. When I think of Weeping Willows, I think of the saying, “Going with the flow…” The ability to flow through changes can be its own kind of strength…
The mighty Oak tree, on the other hand, symbolizes another kind of strength - big, bold and more obvious. One of my favorite quotes is from Napoleon Hill who once said, “The strongest oak tree of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and scorching sun…”
My sketch books are literally filled with images of trees - some standing alone while others are standing together…yet each one is beautiful and unique in their own way…kind of like people…
Perhaps what I should always remember as I continue my search, is what trees actually symbolize to me.
In essence, they are a timeless symbol of life…of how we are connected to everything that surrounds us…that we are more than what people see…that there lies beneath us and within us, great strength and purpose…and hope…
And as director Ross Spears once said, “How can you not be hopeful if you have a tree around?”
What do you think?
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Tranquil Moments…
I asked my niece, Jennifer Malphy, if she could share some of her nature photos with my newsletter audience. Each week I will feature a new photo. Here is this week’s:
Children’s Corner
Back in 1999, when I was an elementary school librarian, I started a project where I wrote letters (old fashioned, printed letters) to a variety of famous people. This was prior to the daily use of email and text messages. My questions were simple…
1) From your own life experiences, how has reading affected your life in a positive manner?
2) Was there any particular person or experience in your life that made you aware of the value of literature and the importance of reading?
I am going to share these letters and let you experience the joy many of my students (and myself) have gotten from their touching words - Here is this week’s:
This week’s Smile video…
In 1939, when Opal Lee was just 12, her family moved into a house that stood in an all-White neighborhood. They had lived at the home for just five days when a mob showed up and "tore it asunder." More than eight decades later, she owns the land again. Steve Hartman has her story in "On the Road."
#believe #smilevideos #spreadkindnessandlove
Thoughts to ponder…
At 40, Franz Kafka (1883-1924), who never married and had no children, was walking through a park one day in Berlin when he met a girl who was crying because she had lost her favorite doll. She and Kafka searched for the doll unsuccessfully.
Kafka told her to meet him there the next day and they would come back to look for her.
The next day, when they had not yet found the doll, Kafka gave the girl a letter "written" by the doll saying "please don't cry. I took a trip to see the world. I will write to you about my adventures."
Thus began a story which continued until the end of Kafka's life.
During their meetings, Kafka read the letters of the doll carefully written with adventures and conversations that the girl found adorable.
Finally, Kafka brought back the doll (he bought one) that had returned to Berlin.
"It doesn't look like my doll at all," said the girl.
Kafka handed her another letter in which the doll wrote: "my travels have changed me." The little girl hugged the new doll and brought the doll with her to her happy home.
A year later Kafka died.
Many years later, the now-adult girl found a letter inside the doll. In the tiny letter signed by Kafka it was written:
"Everything you love will probably be lost, but in the end, love will return in another way."
Embrace change. It's inevitable for growth. Together we can shift pain into wonder and love, but it is up to us to consciously and intentionally create that connection.
What I am reading…
This week I continue my Nora Ephron “read-a-thon” with the memoir I Remember Nothing and other Reflections…
The Amazon description is as follows: “Here is the beloved, bestselling author of I Feel Bad About My Neck at her funniest, wisest, and best, taking a hilarious look at the past and bemoaning the vicissitudes of modern life—and recalling with her signature clarity and wisdom everything she hasn’t (yet) forgotten.
In these pages she takes us from her first job in the mailroom at Newsweek to the six stages of email, from memories of her parents’ whirlwind dinner parties to her own life now full of Senior Moments (or, as she calls them, Google moments), from her greatest career flops to her most treasured joys.
Filled with insights and observations that instantly ring true, I Remember Nothing is a delightful, poignant gift from one of our finest writers.”
Another wonderfully, funny book - Enjoy!
What I am watching…
This week a winter storm kept me indoors, which is not a bad place to find yourself, especially during our normally cold, Wisconsin winters. I started watching the latest Masterpiece season of All Creatures Great & Small.
I remember as a child watching the original series in the 1970’s with my parents. I have read some of the books and it is one of the few adaptations that doesn't’ seem to veer far from the original.
The countryside is beautiful, the stories are heart-warming and the cast is incredible.
Comedy Lift…
I love to share funny cartoons or memes with friends and family. Who doesn’t need to smile? Here’s this week’s Comedy Lift…
Music Moments
Music inspires me in many ways. Here’s the Jackson 5 at the Live at Motown 25 celebration singing “I’ll Be There”...
Quote of the week
Until next week. Please remember…Begin and end each day with a grateful heart…and always, always be kind….
You have to love Snoopy and The Jacksons.