I'm so lucky to live close to nature, in the Jerusalem Hills.All I have to do is walk across the street and go a bit down into the woods on the western slope of our hill in order to grab a sunset for SkyWatch Friday.
Lately I noticed that some tree trunks there which burned in a small fire some eight years ago are starting to disintegrate. At that time, 2002-3, I was working as a residential volunteer in a contemplative monastery of Protestant nuns in Switzerland; and in the library was a wonderful book.
It is Touch the Earth: A Self Portrait of Indian Existence by T.C. McLuhan.
These trees reminded me of what Tatanga Mani, a Stoney Indian, said on page 106:". . . You know, if you take all your books, lay them out under the sun, and let the snow and rain and insects work on them for a while, there will be nothing left. But the Great Spirit has provided you and me with an opportunity for study in nature's university, the forests, the rivers, the mountains, and the animals which include us."
A lovely post to read Dina..
ReplyDeleteYour blog is lovely .
So beautiful! Just lovely nature, sky and words. Just what I need this gray day in nort..
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. I like the quote!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful thoughts and images. Nature is such a wonder and provides so much for us. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLovely, sounds like a peaceful place.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Dina!!! I hope you will consider sending me an email about what you are grateful for to add to this year's gratitude word quilt. It will be posted on my blog on Dec 31st. I am collecting expressions of gratitude from around the world. Enjoy the weekend's skies, blue, grey, or filled with a pallet of many colors! Shabbat Shalom from NH, USA
ReplyDeleteGentle steps,
Laura
Thank you for your teaching.
ReplyDeletea chain, a big tree becomes a fallen trunk and then to bits.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your post, it made me nostalgic for the days when I lived in a rural setting.
ReplyDeleteAnd where more so than right where you are? If you have no objection I'd like to pass that quote along, Dina
ReplyDeleteAloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
><}}(°>
< ° ) } } > <
lovely post today...
ReplyDeleteYou remind me: a couple of years ago a tree fell down in a storm at an open space park in Pasadena. It partly blocked a path but the city employee in charge of the park, a man named John, decided to leave the tree where it was.
ReplyDeleteSomeone came along with a chain saw, cut the tree into small logs and moved it off the path. John was livid. For weeks after that he asked everyone he met if they knew anything about the cutting of the tree. The reason he was mad: the tree was an ecosystem just as it was, and, good intentions or no, sawing it and moving it damaged that natural process.
You do certainly live in a beautiful, interesting, historical place, Dina. It always surprises me that you're able to find another incredible, historical place to share with us.
ReplyDeleteknowledge may not be confined to the books, but reading one is a good place to gain some knowledge.
ReplyDeleteHe may be right, but I love cities!
ReplyDeleteA very nice post about nature, Dina!
ReplyDeleteLovely words too.
Lovely quote, Dina.
ReplyDelete