Inside and Out

It’s our very good fortune that every window of this house looks out on lush green growth: the maples, pine, and cedar; the birches and firs; the garden, vine, apricot, and blueberry; the juniper and the dense, tall arborvitae; the fig, the lilacs, the rhododendrons; the ferns, moss, grass, and volunteer oak and hazelnut seedlings; and in the distance, the trees of the neighborhood. Each view changes from hour to hour and day to day; each is an invitation to go out and simply breathe and be. A few strides in any direction brings us quickly to the edge of the lot. But by taking our time and slowly wandering about, we experience the space as a living wilderness populated by squirrels and birds, butterflies, bees, and worms, and myriad other things that burrow and hop and flit and creep and crawl. All of this with the wild sky above, and the patient earth below, generating music, poetry, and good health — and that is more than enough for this note.

May 4, 2021

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