The Release

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting at my window desk, enjoying the fall colors. It was one of those stellar autumn days that appear on memes with animated leaves falling on someone in a cozy sweater, holding a mug of steaming chai with the question “Don’t you wish you could spend time here?” …or something like that. You get it… it was a beautiful autumn day. 

The leaves were gliding down from the huge maple tree right outside the window. It takes 3+ adult arm spans to encircle her, most likely making her the eldest tree in the area. Mama Maple is consistently the last tree to drop leaves in the neighborhood. All other trees can be near empty, and she will barely have started her release. I don’t know if a larger tree takes longer for the chlorophyll to stop production (the cue for trees to let it all go) or she enjoys watching the annual ritual of her tree family, or maybe elders go last in the tree community, who knows. There are many years it feels like she drops, 1) after we just finish the big rake, or 2) the day before the first snow. But not this year, she along with everyone else held on to their signs of summer, who had transformed from green to delightful shades of yellow, orange, red and brown.

On this particular day I watched as leaf by leaf was released not only from Mama, but of the rest of the grove as well. As if in slow motion, yellow leaves drifted from branches, carried on a light breeze and were gently laid onto the ever thickening blanket of yellow. 

One would think that the leaf drop would leave the branches bare. Not the case. If you look quickly, that is how it appears. In reality, the branches are not bared at all. Instead tiny little balls line the branches; the beginning of next spring’s leaves. As the tree prepares for hibernation, it releases what it no longer needs, the spent leaves. It is able to save its energy by letting them go and the saved energy is used to restore the tree during winter and nurture its spring buds. 

Trees release what they do not need, what might drain them un-necessarily and use the stored energy to nurture what they are to be in the future. 

I love trees. 

In case you are looking for a place to release what you no longer need to carry and nurture what you will need moving forward, check this out.

Starting Wednesday, Nov 20th, for 5 weeks (bringing us up to many of the major holidays) there will be a 20 minutes meditation to center, ground and refresh you. My hope is that this time will be a well where you can take a deep drink to help sustain you as you do your work through what can be a challenging time of year for many. We will meet before most of us start the day – 7:30 am, CST. 

Here is the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89863846450

Come and feel refreshed. Hope to see you there, my friends. 

Andrea