Broccoli Tree

This is one of my favorite trees as a child.

What fun
peering into the foliage
exploring every limb and leaf and flower
delighting in the games
shadow and light play
chasing each other along the trunk
flitting across the crown
hiding in the secret places
surrounded by emerald treasure...

Until mother says,
"Stop playing with your food."

Sitting With Trees

I'm working on a new book. I had been working on another book (called My Heart Opens which is mostly formatted and written) but I've set it aside to attend to Sitting With Trees. Trees have been calling to me for a while...I've been on a "tree jag" for about 6 months with my art but it goes back farther than that: I've had a life-long love affair with trees.

As a child, I spent hours playing in the woods, climbing trees, and making tree forts. Later as a graduate student, I took courses in Botany and Plant Ecology and did research on the Oak trees and Acorn Woodpeckers of Oregon. As an adult, I’ve regularly retreated to the woods for silence and prayer.

Only recently have I learned to sit with trees and listen to what they had to teach me. Sitting With Trees is a collection of the images and words that have come from my time sitting with trees. (I'm not sure when Sitting With Trees will be available...it still seems to be developing so I'm not sure of the "due date" for the birth of this new one, however you are getting a preview of some of the art and writing on my blog.)

"Trees Have A Lot to Teach Us"

“We can learn a lot from trees:

they're always grounded

but never stop reaching heavenward.”

~Everett Mámor

Mom's Tree

Life has

slowed and narrowed…

so it seems…

Mom’s tree silhouettes the sky…

here and there…

leaves,

brown and gold,

silently quiver.

Lying in her bed,

resting in her chair,

sitting at her table,

she gazes at her tree,

through the seasons.

I worry…

Is she withdrawing

from life?

Then I wonder…

maybe it’s

the other way around…

Is she embracing life

in a way I have not?

So we sit together

with her tree.