Happy NEW year! Indeed, it is another opportunity to look anew at the world.
It’s been quite cold here in Boulder, with snow on the ground and early mornings below freezing.
Even though it’s cold, earlier this week I took myself on a late afternoon walk. I bundled up, put on my boots, and started out for my favorite 30-minute loop.
The walk takes me down a bike path (we are lucky in Boulder), under a main road, then on to a small neighborhood park. The park is speckled with mid-life trees, casually arranged around the perimeter of the park, leaving open space in the center. A handful of willows and cottonwoods line a tiny stream neatly crossing diagonally through the park.
I was struck by how NAKED the trees are. Standing there, full structure exposed. How profoundly, unabashedly vulnerable.
I noticed how easy it is to see the branches and their pattern.
We know this “branching pattern” well. It is the pattern of our blood vessels and bronchioles; it is the pattern of rivers and streams across land; it is the pattern mimicked beneath the ground in root systems.
Here I am… in the middle of winter…
taking in the sheer *nakedness* of the trees.
I realize I’m in wonder.
Winter wonder.
Which reminds me of something one of my dear friends said to me years ago: “The only way to truly enjoy winter is to get outside, and be IN it!”
What are your winter wonder stories? How are ways you've come to love winter, especially if it isn’t your first inclination?
If you truly DON’T love winter, that’s ok, too.
I offer you a window to wonder today – watch for the naked branch patterns, the subtle colors of the bark, and notice what echoes in your physical structure.
Perhaps the subtle colors of your skin, the blue branching of the veins on your inner arm just beneath the surface, perhaps….?
If you notice something new, if something shifts inside you – even for a moment – I’d love to hear about it. Send me an email (maren@postcardstotheearth.com) or post it below.
Wishing you winter wonder and a fresh, sparkling new year.
Soulfully,
Maren