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The Shadow of our Tree



As the snow fell, sadness of a snowless winter dissipated. A snowless winter for some creates loneliness. Aloneness carved inside-out. There is quiet and sometimes peace along with that. The snow falling is the light through the dark. It lays beyond our dreams. Its imaginary blessings some relate to childhood.

The blessings most adults appeared to have gone unnoticed. You see snow, loses its dreaminess after a certain age with some. Metaphorically, snow is seen to many as losing traction. Literally, the beauty of snow’s slickness slows everything down. It makes us step back, reckoning the things we cannot control.

Ungrateful adults view snowfall as a dilemma. The unloved, reasoning their unloved-ness view it as a blessing. Everything pauses, that’s the blessing. The earth appears untouched in many places. If only for a few hours.  Then noises begin to creep back into the fray of life. The ungrateful become a bit grateful. And the unloved breath in their acknowledgment that not all life can be controlled.

Snowfall does a good job of cleaning up our messes in life. In the farmlands of Vermont, when the frozen winter ground stays frozen it provides hope that more apple blooms are present in the spring. In Minnesota, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing are opted for some, when the ice fishing is interrupted by warmer night temperatures rising above the teens at inopportune times.

The messes of our lives appear sanitized, if only for a moment during and after a substantial snowfall. The brightness of the snow somehow if we go slightly inward brings joy. It’s up to us to recognize it. It’s up to us to feel blessed about it. If only for a moment, can we conger up the strength to acknowledge a minute of goodness cures some evil in the world. Fights our demons. Then we win in that moment.

I will not lie to you, that everyone is a winner.  That is subjective. No. We are not all ‘Survivors’. Nope. Neither are we all ‘Fighters’. Or ‘Warriors’. The objective angle is there are obstacles some of us face more than others. There are obstacles quite a few face. Then there are the obstacles everyone has a little taste of because that’s life as its presented to us.

I am not here to project the worthiness or lack thereof your life encounters.  Yet I know, I’ve been many places that others have not. So many that I’ve heard from, want to compare their experiences to another’s. Comparison is not always wrought with compassion. Quite often, depending on the persona, it is one of jealousy. Quietness, no opinion can at times also be a form of jealousy. Other times, it can be a deep cut of reality—sometimes an ‘Ah Ha’ moment. Sometimes quietness is  a sign of bewilderment.

There is the possibility of greatness in all of us. And its not always about saving a life. Its usually about compassion that is agape. A depth of agape to any living thing with no conditions attached. I’m talking about pure, unconditional love. Yes, the kind we feel we receive from nature. It gives to us, and we take from it. It seemingly does not ask for anything or much in return. Because nature sees itself as the cycle in life. So, it gives willingly, no questions asked. And that is truth, which is a form of love.---Jody-Lynn Reicher

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