Note from Louisa

Joy has been tangible the last few days since the Equinox. The season of growing things has begun. I can almost taste anticipation on the mild spring breeze, hear it in the bird song that greets me each morning, and feel it in the burgeoning velvet buds of the serviceberry tree in my backyard.
 
This tree, also known as a Juneberry, wild pear, or shadbush, (but affectionately named “Pete” in my family), is always a helpful companion in tracking the seasons each year. It’s soft white blossoms in mid spring give way to tangy, edible red berries in early June – delicious if you can beat the birds to them.
 
By summer, Pete is verdant and thick with pliable branches where birds of every variety alight, patiently waiting their turn at the feeder. Pete will appear to tremble as though shivering, as his limbs bustle with avian life. 
 
In the autumn, Pete’s leaves turn the colors of a fiery sunset, bathing our deck in a spectacular display of yellow, gold, red, and orange. By the time winter approaches, Pete’s leaves have fallen as he prepares for his deep slumber, dreaming of the coming spring when he will awaken ready to greet the sun and his chirping “tenants”.
 
I can sit for an embarrassing long time just watching the ecosystem that Pete has become. Butterflies and bumble bees find sanctuary on his peripheries, careful not to get too close to the activities of the birds. For some time, a family of bunnies had burrowed a safe haven in the ground near his roots, until they were unceremoniously evicted by a racoon. Pete is very popular, it seems.
 
I am grateful to have Pete’s teachings and reminders so close at hand, illustrating the spiral cycle of life when the world presses me into more linear thinking. In a spiral, the barren winter is always followed by growth and rebirth - we are not limited to a beginning, middle, and end.
 
I hope that everyone can find a teacher in nature to help anchor them when the human world becomes too complex and self-important. It is humbling and necessary to remember our partnership with the natural world instead of trying to assert our dominance over it.
 
Blessings on your journey,
Louisa