Sometimes, while sitting in November’s afternoon sun, I catch myself gazing not at the bony maples in their stark beauty, or the sky so sharply blue and cold, but downward at the old pocked and scared brick beneath my boots, a patch of lichen sheathing a point on a sandstone flag and the endless patterns etched by time and a low fall sun in those old salvaged cross ties that seemed like such a deal at the time.
A concrete pot that held petunias in their day stands empty of all but cold soil and fallen leaves. The gardens all about are full of the dead and dying awaiting a moment when some mysterious gene will wake up with a program of flourishing life, symmetry and beauty. The pleasure I feel is palpable. But I’ve never been hard to please in the out of doors.
The sun warms me though it is not long for warming. I am beginning to wonder if I can get to my feet having set for a spell with my knees drawn up so. It occurs to me that I, with my cracks, blemishes and faded color, fit right in with the textured weathered and decaying world about me. I had to smile thinking that someone passing by might not see me, so well camouflaged, amid the lichens, fallen leaves, grasses and lilies gone by. Particularly if I were quite still.
Hi Jerry,In the later part of the day as the later years are moving in, the late afternoon light moves me. This has not been my favorite time of year, but this year brings a change – as I travel around the southern part of the state, I can see into the leafless forest where small pools of water, streams, brooks, and quiet rivers reflect the forest around them in the late afternoon. Startling, serene, and beautiful, these glimpses into the inner forest are mirrors into our souls reflecting back the days, years, and life gone by allowing the beauty of those experiences to be experienced again.This canopy dweller had dragged the back of a basketball hoop into a pine tree, oh so many years ago. Shelves were installed in the branches above for books and other sundries – all to be removed at the end of each visit.Keep saturating. jo
Thanks for the comment Jo. There are few places to live that offer such moments of insight into ourselves.