On Shedding Leaves by Norvelle Alabama

“Fall is a lovely time of the year. The hillsides are filled with various hues and colors and slowly the ground is covered with a  blanket of leaves to protect the roots and to eventually nourish the tree with essential nutrients. If man does not dispose of them too soon.
The tree  is left standing, bare of all evidence of whether its particular leaves were beautiful or diseased by a blight of some sort.
The branches reach up to towards the heavens as if asking for a new beginning which they receive every spring.
New leaves like thoughts bud out and every tree has a chance to be beautiful again.

How nice it would be if people could shed their bad habits, strong thinking, prejudice, disillusionment and petty grievances as easily as the tree sheds its leaves and begins again with a heart full of love, compassion and understanding for their fellow man.”
 
I loved this thought because I’m not there yet,  I must be part Eucalypt or Madrona. Some trees just hate shedding their leaves and when they do, it is to carpet the understory with their leaves, burying all competition. Some trees, like humans, are simply thugs and hold onto old grievances instead of mulching them away. And like the beauty of leaves in the Fall, it is always wise to remember that
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
 
I also seem to be having more “Senior moments,” not remembering a plants name even though I propagated and have grown them for years. Worse yet, unseen illuminations fall into your head from nowhere. I always wonder, when they fall out, where do they go?
 
Such musings suggest that the tree I am must also be endowed with thorns — perhaps, I am a curmudgeon Monkey Puzzle Tree after all.  

An afterthought and suggestion perhaps. This song  “Hello in There” by John Prine really got to me years ago when I lost my mother. Our communications were never the best and I had lost my father even earlier. Today, I know very little about their real being except for being parents — not always good. Today, I wished I had asked more and communicated better.

I always keep that song in my mind when I visit with these “old friends.” 
You see, I am at that stage myself and my daughters don’t know me at all. ‘Hello in there’ by John Prine is for all of you that are old and those that are going to be old one day.

A sweet old lady is asked to say Grace at a Seniors Home.  She brought down the house of seniors and caregivers. Enjoy!
It starts off slowly but then becomes something great. Be patient.   Her dry wit reminds me of a dear old friend and was great!
“As long as I have the microphone.” She is funny….and makes me laugh!! We all need to laugh more…it helps us to forget our usual aches and pains. Thank you dear lady, we need more humor like yours. “This is the first time I grew old and it sort of crept up on me.”