Another Tree

Anyone who has read this blog before knows about my love affair with a tree at Aaron's Beach in Mathews, VA.

 This tree.

But the tree finally succumbed to the elements and is no longer standing.

So while on my honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean,

we stopped in Freeport Bahamas

and drove our Jeep Caravan out into the ocean

(on a road not, like, on the water).

And at the point was this little tree that appealed to me.

 It occurred to me that it was similar to my little tree in Mathews

(only this one wasn't dead).

And I wasn't the only one who saw the resemblance,

Big E said it reminded him of my tree too.

I guess I'll have to start traveling to the Bahamas on a regular basis 

in order to visit with the tree.

Monday Meditation

 

Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure.

~ Rumi

Crape Myrtle

 I'd have to say that crape myrtle is one of my favorite trees.  

I'm certain this is mostly because crape myrtles and Deltaville go hand in hand.  

This particular tree was planted by my great uncle affectionately known as Pepop.  

That's Pepop's former home in the background.

 I remember when this tree was only about 5 feet tall.

I was only about 3.5 feet tall so it seemed to tower over me.

 And like an old friend it was there to great me summer after summer. 

Even long after Pepop passed away, after Memom sold the house, 

and after the new owners sold the house it stayed.

It was the one constant.

 September 2010, something prompted me to take some photos of it.  

I can't really say what the motivation was.  

Maybe it was thinking of a future blog post.  

Or maybe it was some annoying thought in the back of my mind

that it might be gone one day.

Sadly, the tornado in April 2011 damaged the tree and it was removed. 

Blocked

I've started and stopped and deleted 5 blog posts this evening.  I seem to be in that in between world of wanting badly to write and not knowing what exactly I want to write, or how to write.  Nothing seems to sound right.  Nothing seems to flow at all.  So, I'm going to share some photos I took from this last Labor Day Weekend.  It was after Hurricane Irene hit and I headed out to Aaron's Beach to survey the changes.  I knew things were different.  I expected my favorite tree to be gone.  I hadn't specifically asked anyone if it was still there and no one has mentioned it directly.  I wanted to discover it's passing on my own.  Walk around the corner and feel the biting pangs of loss- for a tree.  And not just any tree- a dead one.  I like to think of it as living driftwood.  Stuck in the sand like a sculpture from Mother Nature.  Imagine the surprise and (sounding slightly melodramatic I'm sure) the sheer joy of turning the corner and seeing my old friend.  Not that we have been friends all that long.  But what's time in the language of kindred spirits? 

 It's weathered many storms, that tree.  Stood and faced gales, nor'easters, Hurricanes, Hurricane easters.... and it hasn't moved.  It's managed to hang on for another morning.  Still stands straight and strong despite the slapping waves of storm after storm. 

There's a metaphor in there somewhere.

Poetry: Because I've Got Nothing Else

 

Destitution

There's a stray dog barking.

Searching for a home,

He belongs to no one.

His lone wail his only companion.

Searching for a home,

Like the other wild ones.

His lone wail his only companion.

I know what it is to cry alone in the night.

Like the other wild ones, 

I seek shelter from the rain.

I know what it is to cry alone in the night

To feel the pains of need bite harder than hunger.

I seek shelter from the rain.

I belong to no one.

I feel the pains of need bite harder than hunger.

There's a stray dog barking.

~Jamie L. Jackson

For those interested in the poetry sort of thing, this poetry form is a pantoum.  I'm typically not a form poem aficionado only because I struggle with making things fit (I'm more of a free verse kinda person- when I write-which I haven't in about 10 years).  But the pantoum is easy enough and can really have a meaningful punch if done right.  Not one of my better ones by far, but unfortunately, I am revisiting similar emotions that prompted me to write this all those years ago.  

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Pickers

As you come into the lane at Jackson Acres, there's the remnants of what used to be an apple and peach orchard.  When I was a kid, my cousins and I would sometimes help ourselves to ripe peaches in the summer.  There's nothing better than biting into a sun warmed fuzzy peach and having the juice run down your chin.

My grandmother and aunt would ask how we managed to get peach juice on our clothes when we hadn't been home.  We would just shrug and say we "found" some.

When the apples began ripening, we could be found up in the trees snacking on those.

 During games of hide and seek, my favorite place to hide was the apple tree next to Mr. Ingram's garage.  I'd climb up in there and sit safe like I was in a green cocoon.  When the apples started coming in, sometimes I would snack on those while I waited to be found. 

I often wish I could be back up in that tree lounging, snacking on extremely tart, sour, unripe Granny Smith's.  The world was much simpler back then.

Monday Meditation

River of Dreams

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
From the mountains of faith
To the river so deep
I must be lookin' for something
Something sacred i lost
But the river is wide
And it's too hard to cross
even though I know the river is wide
I walk down every evening and stand on the shore
I try to cross to the opposite side
So I can finally find what I've been looking for
In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the valley of fear
To a river so deep
I've been searching for something
Taken out of my soul
Something I'd never lose
Something somebody stole
I don't know why I go walking at night
But now I'm tired and I don't want to walk anymore
I hope it doesn't take the rest of my life
Until I find what it is I've been looking for
In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the jungle of doubt
To the river so deep
I know I'm searching for something
Something so undefined
That it can only be seen
By the eyes of the blind
In the middle of the night
I’m not sure about a life after this
God knows I've never been a spiritual man
Baptized by the fire, I wade into the river
That is runnin' through the promised land 
In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the desert of truth
To the river so deep
We all end in the ocean
We all start in the streams
We're all carried along
By the river of dreams
In the middle of the night
~Billy Joel

Monday Meditation

I'm switching gears and trying something different.  While I was contemplating what I should blog about this week (and coming up completely short on anything humorous), I thought I should try to do a themed day sort of post... Something with a title that shows my prowess for alliteration. 

So I thought of things like "Monday Moan" "Monday Melancholy" "Monday Mayhem" and realized I was having issues coming up with anything positve that has to do with a Monday.  I honestly can't say if it had to do with the particular day of the week or my current mood, either way, I wasn't pleased with it.  So, finally, I opted for Monday Meditation. 

Every Monday I will try to come up with some type of quote or saying or something that will possibly induce a little more positive minded thought (and I promise in the future there won't be as much babbling).  So, for my very first Monday Meditation, I picked a quote from one of my favorites:

Do not grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.

                                                                         ~Rumi

Reminds me that while things might seem bad and impossible, eventually whatever you've lost: your car keys, a person, friendship, love...

you'll find again.