My musing meander through the alphabet brings us here today to the letter H. And I do mean here.
Isn’t this a wonderful admonition from David Wagoner?
“Stand still. The trees ahead and the bushes beside you are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here.”
I love this at so many levels. The reminder to be still. To notice. To understand I’m never really lost. To really simply be present.
I’ve always had a curious relationship with time. Part of me KNOWS there is something more about time I’m meant to understand/remember. It feels important, and like something I’m supposed to share once I understand, but it’s always felt elusive. The moment I have the slightest grasp it slips away. So I take extra comfort in Wagoner’s words because it helps me sooth my brain, and reminds me, at least for this moment, I can hold time and space as simply markers of HERE. Nothing more, nothing less. Just here.
Because today is Thursday and Nerd in the Brain always invites us to share three things that delight us, I’m happy to share three things that somehow remind me of here.
First are some blossoms from my rose tree. Although it had a truly prolific blooming in Spring, it has had only a scattered few blossoms now and then since. Still, each one is treasured.
Wagoner’s quote about the trees reminded me a fabulous book I have – About Trees by Katie Holten. The first edition was a very limited printing and it sold out quickly before I managed to get hold of a copy. But luckily a second printing has been done. I’ve had it on order for some time now, and yesterday it arrived from Berlin. I stayed up late last night poring through it, and there’s plenty more to delight in. It’s a wonderful anthology of eclectic writing about trees, gathered from all sorts of sources. Plus she also created a special tree font, based on her drawings of New York City trees. Every letter is represented by a tree – A is apple, B is beech, C is cedar. You can see it here on the cover. For each article and bit of writing, she translates the text into an image created from all the tree-letters used. Amazing!
Finally, when I think about HERE, my mind wanders to maps. I’m fascinated by maps, which in itself is fascinating to me because I’m actually directionally dyslexic. But if we exclude literal direction maps, and move into the realm of the more obscure and strange, I’m totally on board.
I’ve been playing a lot with beeswax this summer. The other day, I rounded up a few scraps of handmade, hand-dyed paper left over from a time when papermaking was a much bigger part of my creative life. I’ve been thinking about batik and resist printing and so I experimented by resisting and then overdying the paper. Then I dipped the whole thing in beeswax so now it’s quite stiff. Because it had resist on it to begin with, it didn’t get translucent as paper often does when beeswax is used. But when I looked at it I couldn’t help but think it was some sort of mysterious map marking something magical.
I hope you take a moment to stand still and know wherever you are, you are here. I hope you know it as a wonder-filled place, filled with flowers and trees and maybe even a map or two if you need them. What “H” thing is inspiring you today? Are there 3 things delighting you? Do tell – you know I love to hear.
My son’s name starts with H. You’ve reminded me of the time he scampered off during a forest walk when we were staying at my sister’s cabin. He must have been six or seven at the time. While he was out of sight for probably only five minutes it felt more like 20. Each second was horrific. He didn’t know the path, the island is rather remote and he was so very little. I was getting rather frantic when he bolted up the path, looking ever so relieved to have found his way back to us. How did he find us? “I finally remembered to look for that blue tarp that was on the trail near you.” Was he scared? Not of the trees. “They’re my friends, Mom.”
Oh goodness Kelly – nothing like a little forest mis-adventure to get the adrenaline pumping. But your son is a wise one indeed to know from an early age that trees are friends.
It’s so much fun following as your mind wanders from place to place…from trees to maps to beeswax. FUN!
LOL – I’m not sure my mind knows how to wander in a straight line. It is the master of detours and roundabouts.