my life according to trees

when faced with the choice of distracting myself or leaning into an unplanned day, i chose the latter and let one thing lead me to another like a trail of crumbs.  i found myself making sustaining food and bread from leftovers in the pantry and doing rather the same thing with words:  a day of unexpected writing. 

so i started to type.  just for the joy of it.  and i'm rather pleased with how it turned out.  i titled it "my life according to trees" and began...
...

"Of the two basic forces at work in the world, we are both. 

Those who act and those who are acted upon.  But don’t be fooled, we are anything but sedentary.  Even Milton said “they also serve who only stand and wait”.

We are the trees and we met her when she first learned about death.
She, like her ancestors, will come to rest beneath the smooth bark of madrones on their shared and silent hillside. 
But that day she was anything but silent and not about to share.

(The bulk of story is several pages devoted to eight significant trees in my life, but from their perspective:  willow, walnut, cherry, fir, maple, linden, cedar, and aspen).

It closes...
…
She can feel it, though she still doesn’t understand, she knows.  Even though she has never felt more at home inside herself, most all of us will outlive her.  And that brings comfort, making her feel appropriately small in the scheme of things, so fitting that she came and went while we stayed in one place. 

Of the two basic forces at work in the world, we are both.  Those who act and those who are acted upon.  But don’t be fooled, we are anything but sedentary.  Those of us that she will outlive, she considers replanting--our mode of travel--fingering a pine cone in her hand certain to burst open, like the rest of her life, one way or another."