Be Still

Ahhhhh.....be still.  So many possibilities, so many struggles.  Am I talking Psalm 46:10? Or am I talking in other generalities.  Yes, yes I am.  Be still. Be still and know. Be still and know that I am God, as the beautiful psalm says.

Maybe it's the issue of slowing down enough to be still.  I have a horrible time with that.  Slowing down my thoughts, my activities, my responsibilities enough to just be still.  Being still enough to take a deep breath.  Being still enough to be aware.  Mostly I'm scrambling to get to the next thing.

I don't know about you, but I need to work on this.  Well,  perhaps not work, but to embrace this. Embracing is good.  I work enough, probably too much, I long to embrace more.  I live in the beautiful middle of nowhere and I can't seem to sit and enjoy it.  I can't hear the silence and sometimes my eyes miss the beauty.

So many times I say I can't, when really I won't.  Arghhh....tell me I'm not alone in this and let's work together on changing it.  Case in point, the dogs. They think nothing of sleeping in the sun, rolling in the grass, running for the sheer joy of it.  I'd have to get a note from my boss and schedule a day off for simple pleasures like this. Oh, wait, I am the boss of my own life.  I don't need a note, but I do need to pencil it in and follow through.

What do you need to be still?  Gardening can be a form of being still. If your mind set is calm and peaceful.  Reading can be being still.  Napping is an amazing way to be still.  Consciously breathing counts as being still.  Being still long enough to find your sense of humor is a good thing too.  So my wish is for you and I to be still.  Let me know how that goes for you.





 

Way Ahead Or Way Behind

For the last couple years our goal has been to add more tree's to our little piece of heaven on earth. Tree's - so many plans, so many dreams.  Cherry tree's - tried twice, with no luck.  Curly willow's - yup, courtesy of stems rooted that would have been trash at the flower shop.  We have two, with plans for more.  Apple tree's on the list.  Peach tree - check.  Thanks to my kids.  Last fall we tried to transplant Aspens and an Oak.  Fail.  Nothing ventured nothing gained.

I cringe when the county comes through and digs up perfectly good tree's that are too close to the road.  I hate to see tree's felled for housing developments and farming.  No offense to the developers and the farmers.  I just love tree's.

We should be more like them.  Able to bend with the storms of life.  Able to put down roots and reach for the stars.  Able to blossom, leaf out and then shed the leaves when the season is over.  Many of us struggle with shedding what no longer serves us well.  Would that we could give shade and shelter like a tree does.

So today we planted two tree's.  That makes us either well ahead of this year's game plan, or way behind last year's. I'm calling it a win.  We planted a pine tree in the back yard.  We prayed it would grow strong and sturdy. Giving the birds a place to nest, the squirrels safety from the dogs, and the dogs a place to pee.  Proof that tree's multitask too.  We also planted a Bald Cypress.  It's been on my wish list ever since we moved.  Now, as a rule I suck at tree identification. But I had a Cypress "in the city" and I loved it. Sometimes you need to bring a bit of those other homes along with you.  We named it Marti, by the way.  In honor of my mother-in-law who passed on last year.  Special memories for a special tree.

I haven't given up on cherry trees, aspens, river birches or oaks. Apples, apricots, pears or another Persian walnut. They are just seeds that will take a little longer to produce.  The best part was working together to plant them.  Planting them to bless the land.  And, trusting they will grace us in the days ahead.