. . . flocking together. In time of need – heck, at all times. Because need may strike any body, at any time.
Need darkened my door recently – and companionship and support descended in a flurry. Need darkens that of other friends – and companionship and support is imminent.
Wazeau is a dear blogging friend living with two luscious cats and two whimsical parrots. Companionship and support arrived from her yesterday, in this envelope:
Bits of Bandit and Merlin. So beautiful.
I’m glad to say neither cat quite knew what to do with them. This is all the further Fang got.
Bugs was really not sure.
He did jump around with it a little bit, but he quickly lost interest. He preferred this item (a gift from Kim).
I’m glad things worked out like this. It means I get to save these exquisite feathers. As a tangible memory of beauty, companionship, and support.
There’s nothing like need to bring home gratitude.
And this gratitude is strange, in my world. I feel unsettled, deep in my unconscious, at this outpouring of abundance. It is not the way of the world as I was taught it. This abundance challenges my deepest-inculcated belief, knowledge, nay, certainty: The world is a deeply unfriendly place.
Deeply unfriendly? I don’t know how to put that, really.
I have in mind the unfriendliness that was, that is, that remains, stuck in my awareness like a burr, a cactus spine, The Holocaust.
Elie Wiesel says: “Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live.”
That’s the kind of unfriendliness I’m talking about.
In my world to date, then, best not to count on abundance.
But – today – I find abundance. It’s taken me a lifetime to realize it. But abundance is present.
This, friends, is what your support and companionship means to me.
There is a magnificent post oak standing at the southeast corner of my little house. I call the house mine. But really I rent it. Like I rent this body.
Post oaks are so called, it’s said, because their bodies are tough enough to become fence-posts. In our little human, circumscribed world. That chops down the mighty oak for things like fence-posts.
I want my mighty oak to stay tree. I want that its tiny acorns continue to give birth to new life. That its old life, so old its trunk is half-hollowed-out, yet it still stands proud and tall, despite tons of ice descending in winter, despite season after season of punishing drought, I want that its old life be noticed, be cherished, be venerated. I want it to go on being a roost for the birds, who perch waiting to plunge into the dogs’ water-bowl. To drive my cats mad.
I want that this great oak go on sheltering all life, life that embodies the principle that we are all connected. Literally, through the air we respire. Figuratively, through a friendly universe.
May it always be so.
A very thought-provoking post. I too have had similar thoughts about my big Maple tree, the namesake for the street I live on. It gives much-needed shade in summer, and is ablaze with orange and yellow in the fall. And, it makes lots of babies – sometimes too many and in inappropriate places LOL! I also have towering Acacias that bloom sweetly in mid-June. The neighbours think I am crazy to have such “weapons” in my yard. Their cragginess and impressive swaying when windy may be scary to some, and many people chop them down before they get too big. But I love them: all manner of birds visit, cats climb/scratch them, and squirrels makes nests in them. Against the blue sky their craggy silhouettes can bring to mind Africa. I sometimes think: these may come down soon after I “shuffle off this mortal coil” – but – today, for now, they are mine – these wondrous green monuments.
Wonderful! Do you have giraffes to munch on the acacias? I love what you say here! Great to see you, as always, Anya.
I really enjoyed this today, thanks! We’re on the same page and mood. I’ve been posting a lot about trees lately at my other blog Boomer Muse http://blog.laylamorganwilde.com Happy safe 4th to you and the kitties!
Aho! Mitakuye Oyasin! We are, indeed, all related. My abundance presents itself in tree form too – 2 mighty oaks, 50′ or taller, growing dangerously near the house. Do I worry about huge branches falling on the house? Yes. Would I cut them down to prevent it? NO! They generously provide shade on the south & west sides of my house and every day I am grateful for that. Gratitude for abundance is a wonderful thing. Thanks for the thoughtful reminder, Anita!
And to you, too, Marcy. I am glad in this moment, friend.
What an inspiring post! And now I know your name is Anita, what a lovely name!! 😀
It is true, we are all connected… And I was very touched today by the poetry permeating your post. Here’s to abundance, at all times!
Yes. May we all know it, always.
Bean, this is so moving that I am speechless. Know that I am a part of your community and Universe.
Besides, I take personal responsibility for asking the Universe to provide you with $$$ and they showed up! >:-D
–Laurel
Well done Little Missy. You work it!
hahahha! Little Missy! hahahahaha!
What a beautiful post. I am glad that you have woken to abundance in this world. Sometimes we’re afraid to think about it, much less expect it. But to find out it’s definitely here in your life is a wonderful thing. And may it always be so!
I feel the same way about trees, I mourn when they are cut down, as so often happens in my neighborhood. They sure love the NakedUgly look around here. There was a huge and healthy oak in the yard behind me, but the owner was antsy to get rid of it. When I came home from work one day to find it gone, I cried and grieved. Every time I found another leaflet or branch or seedling in my yard was another hurtful pang. In others eyes, my yard has too many trees. but I love them all and love that they are shelter and playground for birds and squirrels, and shade and beauty for me.
Too many trees. What a concept. I love imagining your yard, and all the living things. You too, dear MTVA.
I too revere trees. I would have made a good Druid. The ones we have in our yard are big enough to shade us now and we spend many happy hours beneath them. The desert is bereft of trees, so our oasis is very important to our well being.
Your oasis, haven to so many. Haven’t seen any pix of your trees, on your blog. How bout it?
What a beautiful, sensitive, inspiring post and message! I’m an avid hiker (and photographer), and I find the most amazing energy and beauty in trees… There’s just no other way to say it. Beautiful, loving, energy. And the amount of life they support — in our area, the frogs, the birds, the snakes, the alligators — not to mention the flora — is simply mind-boggling. Whenever I’m down-and-out, I’ll beg for a hike, run to find the largest cypress (sadly, so many were logged in the ’20s), and hug it, I swear.
How heartwarming, your gifts…. And of feathers, too! Those are truly precious. I have a friend’s parrot’s feather — it’s the most beautiful thing, and I keep it in a place of honor to celebrate the animal herself. What a wonderful post… Thanks so much for uplifting my thoughts. I need to run out with my camera, now. 🙂
You go! We all benefit when you do that, FeyGirl! What a wonderful connection, to have found you. I’m so glad.
♥✶♥ ditto!!
The world is a deeply unfriendly place. But you just have to meet the right people, that make this unfriendly place, a better place to live in. 🙂
Great post! Very “deep”.
And love the feathers! Hiro would go crazy over those!
Yes, Dianda, the company is key, isn’t it. So glad you’re here.
And I am glad you are here! 🙂
I’m still surprised of how many good people I have met through blogging.
I’m so glad you’ve found the same community that I, and Lagitana, have found here. So unexpected, isn’t it? A ‘real-life’ friend asked me on Saturday how the blog was going, and I told him as best I could how I’ve met real people that I trust, sight unseen, and would invite into my home to stay if they came on holiday. I don’t think he understood – but he’s not a blogger. I met my husband online so maybe I think that I know how to judge good character over the ether… But you have physical proof, as do I! What a lovely, personal gift from Wazeau – something that might seem small to others is massive to folks like us. I wish I could ask for a few acorns from your oak, to see if I could make them grow and carry on their legacy in a country where wood isn’t used as a building material (too damn wet)!
(Approx. 1 hr after reading this comment, I was resting and suddenly this popped into my head: Bean must mail you acorns because her tree is a **post** oak! I crack myself up!)
Oh! The punning brains woke up! I love it! Letter rip, don’t stamp out the impulse!
It may have been a one-off, but one is better than none! And your punning in return paralyzed my brain! excellent!
You guys are pushing the envelope here.
grrrroan!
Let me see about those acorns, come the fall. And yes, Spiders, this community is totally unexpected, as you say — and a real joy to me. Truly.
Ah trees! I look out on trees …. and fields and water and mountains … and sheep! I am very blessed … and yet? We are so good us humans at messing it all up. But when I look at Austin I see a sentient being who knows to embrace the moment. He doesn’t worry about yesterday or tomorrow or whether he will survive to see his sixth birthday. He just IS. Such a gift. But we humans have remembrance and angst and responsibilities!!
I can’t help but think of the words to a hymn we used to sing as kids “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through …” In the passing through, do we leave chaos or peace in our wake?
Just rambling but thanks Anita, you made me think! xx
Oh CAT, I love what you say here — and I have in mind that one picture I recall from your blog, imagining where you live — and we are so so so lucky with our little cats, aren’t we. Heaven on earth.
May I say it is totally cool to see my boys’ feathers in your cats’ photos? Even if they are turning up their noses 🙂 I also find trees a comfort and a source of positive energy. There is something about the sound of the wind, the smell of the sun in their leaves, that can recharge me, like music or being with my animals. May your oak continue to hold up the sky in your corner of the universe.
Hold up the sky. Isn’t that just terrific. And they dance, doing it! Hoooray. It is really something, to have these feathers. Like a tangible bridge between here by me, and over there by you. It is amazing, such a “simple” thing.
Beautiful.
The feathers, the friendships, the emotions, the sentiments. All of it. Beautiful
Thank you, Andrea.
Hi Anita, just popped by to say that we have an award for you over at Catachresis 🙂
Bugs and Fang, we think your bean needs a bit of tlc! The heat’s obviously getting to her. Austin says his socks are a fashion statement like those butt-ster type jeans! All the cool cats wear their socks low!! Get with it bean 😉
Thanks for the laugh 🙂
Thank you, CAT, so much for the award. I’m really touched. And as for that sock thing, Bugs says he’s quite disgusted with me for pointing it out — after all, Bugs has worn his pants low since he was born. He is so hip. I am so not hip. What can I say.
Well I would say that Bugs is not so much “hip” as “below the hip”. But as you get older the concern is more along the lines of “replacement hip”!!! lol