aspen whispers

i read that these trees have root systems that can live for thousands of years, longer than the life of the individual tree, when one tree dies, another takes its place from its ancient roots.

 

when i stand among these trees, under their quaking leaves, which sounds like the waves of another kind of ocean, i feel...peace, thrilled, happy, and sorrowful, like when you hear some beautiful music or see some beautiful sight that makes the hairs of your arms stand up and a lump grow in your throat.

 

i'll be traveling (to KS, AL, ME and then back to UT...phew, wish my car luck), and working hard at my dissertation, but i'll be back in a couple of weeks to visit everyone's streams and post photos again. *11/27/12 edit, i didn't make it to maine as i'd hoped, and i'm back in utah now :)*

 

p.s. hopefully i won't get banned for posting whole poems in my descriptions but i wanted to share this:

 

Wild Geese

 

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

-Mary Oliver

Done