A Place Between Three Trees

[lightdancer]

Lying in the Woods

I had an agitated feeling of needing to get out to the woods. I stepped outside and it felt too cold. I went inside and knew I needed to go no matter how cold it was. I got ready and took a sleeping bag and I found a place in the shelter of the unwavering Aspen trees where there was no snow.

I talked to Chloe and told her I wanted to grow with her, to know her and be with her. I meditated on things like courage, compassion and increased sensitivity to the spiritual world. I just lay there in the quietness. I asked the trees and the earth to be with me. It started to snow lightly and it felt good on my face. I sat up and looked out of the trees and up into the sky. The snow was light and gentle. I asked Chloe where she was, what she was doing today. I heard a bird calling from far away. Then two birds flew over my head calling to each other. They did that a couple times. As I was sitting there I saw two long, slender stems of some kind of plant. They were standing together with nothing else around. I just kept watching them. It was funny how they seemed to be talking to each other, but without words. One would lean in toward the other and then back out again. Spirits communicate without words, but through thoughts and feelings. Words don't provide enough vocabulary for the richness of their communication. I also thought that maybe they weren't communicating. Maybe they were just being together, just existing. As I watched the two stems I thought that maybe that is how I will communicate with Chloe. It won't always be important to have words but just to sit together, just to be there.

I stopped at her tree and talked to her. I thanked her for her words about identity in her writing. I told her it is a relieving message, like getting off the treadmill. I gathered up some snow and gave her tree a drink. I told it to grow strong and give life.

“My very existence is my identity.” ~Chloe

[kayc]

Every afternoon I take my dog to Sammy's "to play". Some days, like today, it is much too hot to play. On those days, the dogs just "hang out" together, laying next to each other under the cedar tree, basking in it's shade. We've often wondered what Sammy and Arlie "talk about", and although they do sometimes vocalize, most of the time they're just content to be together. I have seen trees like that too.

It reminds me of something I wrote years ago:

Tonight is so beautiful…there was a lot of wind today, and the temperature is perfect. As I walk down my beautiful road of nature, the sky is dark - neither black nor quite blue…just very dark. There is no moon out, but the stars are sprinkled all across the sky like glittering diamonds, and the dark sky shows them off. The path is thick with dust from the earlier wind, so the ground is soft, and the air is fresh and it smells like the smell of fresh dirt. I feel the air whipping around my face, not harsh, just…nice. I can barely make out the silhouettes of the trees in the darkness. I walk down a lane bedecked with tall stately trees, and it is like walking through a narrow tunnel, and then I come out to the other side and the sky opens up to beauty and wonder. The only sounds I hear are the sounds of rushing water, and bullfrogs calling their songs. Lucky is running back and forth, investigating everything, checking on me, happily whipping her tail at me, saying, “Come on!”, and she nestles her nose against my hand as I walk. I come to my favorite tree, the one that is tall and stout - it has a story to tell. It stands alone with its greenery ruggedly uneven. You can see it has been whipped in life, yet it still stands, a monument to survival. Where are its companions? The others are all together, but this one with the interesting shape, it stands aloof…perhaps not intentionally, but there it is, alone. I find comfort in it, knowing that it is still there. It holds its branches out to the sky, and you can’t help but admire it. I walk along, and I see another favorite…two trees entwined so tightly they look like one. I am reminded of a couple whose hearts beat so closely, you can barely distinguish them as separate. These two trees speak to me also, of closeness and harmony…and again, I see survival. I walk along and hear the sounds of Fourth Creek rushing, and I think of the forces that go on, regardless of the season…they have their highs and lows, but they continue. I hear the wind pick up its song, and it sounds almost as thunderous as the ocean, and for a moment I listen and think of the peace that I always feel when I hear that sound. Everything seems to come into perspective somehow when you hear that sound. When I look up at the sky and see the myriads of stars there, knowing that each one represents vastness all in itself, I feel so small…yet not in an insignificant way, but rather I realize the vastness of God, the vastness of His love…that me, so small in the scheme of things, should be important to Him who has so much to concern Himself with! How quickly these six miles pass! How blessed I am to live in such a paradise!

[lightdancer]

Beautiful!

[MartyT]

Yes. ♥

[kayc]

On the subject of nature, which may not have to do with loss, yet it helps to bring us full circle into peace and harmony, so in that sense, it is entwined with this journey...

Six days ago I was driving down the mountain and I saw something in the road...at first I thought it was a red fox, but I've never seen one holding still. At closer inspection I saw it was covered with white spots...it was a newborn deer! Not more than 15" and no mom in sight. I knew it was about to get run over and I'd have to hurry and do something. I stopped my car and put on the flashers, there was nowhere to pull over there and no time to waste. I didn't have a jacket as it's been hot, and nothing to pick her up with, so I took a couple of eyeglass cases and used them to scoot her off the road about 2-3'. If you touch them the mother will reject them because they'll smell our smell on them. Fawns do not have a smell, protecting them from predators, but their mothers can find them.

By the time I got back into my car there was a whole string of vehicles waiting in that lane, including a log truck. I was so glad I was there in time! I drove to the police station and told them about it, showing them on the map where to locate her. They were going to send an office up to investigate, and if the mother had not showed up yet, they were going to contact someone to take it in and care for it. So glad for this small community I live in that cares about our wildlife and nature around here!

Of everything I have seen in my life, I have never seen anything as precious as that tiny newborn baby deer. It was scared stiff, so terrified, yet it did not appear injured. What a treasure!

[Marj37]

On the subject of nature, which may not have to do with loss, yet it helps to bring us full circle into peace and harmony, so in that sense, it is entwined with this journey...

Six days ago I was driving down the mountain and I saw something in the road...at first I thought it was a red fox, but I've never seen one holding still. At closer inspection I saw it was covered with white spots...it was a newborn deer! Not more than 15" and no mom in sight. I knew it was about to get run over and I'd have to hurry and do something. I stopped my car and put on the flashers, there was nowhere to pull over there and no time to waste. I didn't have a jacket as it's been hot, and nothing to pick her up with, so I took a couple of eyeglass cases and used them to scoot her off the road about 2-3'. If you touch them the mother will reject them because they'll smell our smell on them. Fawns do not have a smell, protecting them from predators, but their mothers can find them.

By the time I got back into my car there was a whole string of vehicles waiting in that lane, including a log truck. I was so glad I was there in time! I drove to the police station and told them about it, showing them on the map where to locate her. They were going to send an office up to investigate, and if the mother had not showed up yet, they were going to contact someone to take it in and care for it. So glad for this small community I live in that cares about our wildlife and nature around here!

Of everything I have seen in my life, I have never seen anything as precious as that tiny newborn baby deer. It was scared stiff, so terrified, yet it did not appear injured. What a treasure!

\Beautiful!!!!! What a gift.

[LadyCarrie]

Kay,

You wrote beautifully of your experience with the fawn. Thank you for sharing your story with us, for it warms our hearts, and shows us your own kind heart. You are a blessing to your friends, and to God's created "critters" of the forest. Your act did not go unnoticed by Him.

As Amberly was going to work a few days ago, she texted to tell me there was a doe "giving her two babies breakfast" across the street from our house. I've never had the pleasure to watch a mother deer nurse her babies. How special!

Blessings,

Carrie

[kayc]

How special indeed! I'm glad she got to witness that, I feel like she was in a sacred spot!