Gone:
two days ago, for the first time ever, a tornado touched down in my backyard, sweeping through just a small portion of the neighborhood before it disappeared. Fortunately no lives were lost and the property damage seems to me a minimum, a few smashed car and signs down, but nothing that won't soon be replaced. Sadly though, there's fallen trees, some uprooted and others just snapped in half, splintered by the force of wind. It's my childhood home that I'm living in right now, and these trees have been present throughout my life, experiences of bird-songs and shade, watching squirrels scammer at play, and simply basking in the presence that every tree offers.
on truth, I took these trees for granted.
and now gone,
my appreciation shows deeply.
to be fair to myself, I've always loved these trees, and when I say that I took them for granted it's really only in the general sense that I believed they'd last beyond my lifetime. I love the beauty of trees, their individuality as well as their unity of design. If a branch is down due to any storm I mourn the damage to the tree, offering a prayer for it's healing every time I walk by. But I never really considered them no longer being here, even as I pass fallen trees through the deeper woods along the many paths of my neighborhood, it never occurred to be that my own nearby trees might no longer share their presence. Yet now I see the wounded earth of their absence, a part of my own history gone, and deeply realize my own brief and transitory lifetime.
in an instant too,
I'll be gone.
without even a wound against the earth left behind.
it's an important consideration, that my lifespan is so much less than almost every tree, but my presence just as vital in it's own unique way. I've fed these neighborhood tress with my breath and the gaze of my attention, felt their shade and enjoyed their fragrance, they were loved for all they offered, and more, for the simplicity and ease of their presence.
in this consideration...
my own brief lifespan, has a legacy of love and deep appreciation.
nothing really needs to be left behind.
it's enough to have existed.
and truly been alive.
~
Peace, Eric