My Homage to Trees

Trees have always been magical or should I say mystical to me. My first true relationship with a tree was with that of a large chestnut tree in the Bronx, NYC. It was near our elementary school and grew tall alongside a hill we used for sledding in the winter and for rolling down in cardboard boxes in the spring and summer.

I was very young, perhaps seven years old. It was a very large tree as I remember and the chestnuts were a beautiful; a rich dark brown and so very smooth. Each Chestnut pod held two rather large half-domed seeds that were shiny and precious.

I was in further awe of nature when I realized that a huge oak tree could be brought forth from the growth of a small, seemingly innocuous acorn.

I agree with Joyce Kilmer. Trees are very special. The video below is an ode to trees. It ushers forth many of the feelings I have toward these living sentinels who retain their footholds at the behest of man.

NOTE: The reader has an accent which may make it difficult to understand all of the words, but I don’t think words are needed.

The Silent Friends

The Silent Friends from Kauri Multimedia on Vimeo.

NOTE: I first came across this video via an article, The Silent Friends: A Beautiful Short Film Celebrating Our Abiding Bond with Trees, from the brainpickings website. If you are in search of intellectually stimulating and far reaching topics, you might enjoy stopping by.

Thanksgiving Break

Dear Friends and Readers of JBRish.com:

We are taking a short break from posting so we can enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. More STATUS QUOtes and other stories will resume on Monday, November 30th.

Until then, we hope you are having a peaceful and reflective holiday weekend as well!

Warm Regards,

JBRish Staff

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~ Melody Beattie

 

Gratitude


Picture via

Giving Thanks – Thanksgiving Reader: A New Tradition

We had a very good, 90 year old plus friend named Nat who served as the patriarch of our family during Thanksgiving dinner. Each year we asked him to prepare a few words appropriate for a Thanksgiving commemoration with family and friends. For a number of years he would read his newly written words of wisdom. I can’t explain why, but we archived these memories and kept them in a safe place.

Thanksgiving Reader

Now that Nat is no longer with us, each year we read one of his past statements. This has become part of our Thanksgiving tradition. I have written about Seth Godin a number of times on this blog. Seth has been generous and kind enough to make available what may become a new holiday tradition for us.

He has provided a series of thought provoking readings that may be read by individuals or in a responsive format. Here is his post and free download of a Thanksgiving Reader. Even if you don’t read all of it, there are certainly some readings which will draw attention to the real meaning of the day and help focus a family or group of friends on, what I think, is the true meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday; gratitude.

We will be using at least one of the readings at our gathering this year right after Nat’s words! I think you will find the Reader poignant and meaningful.