TheBanyanTree: Happy Easter

[Margaret R. Kramer]

The Peace of Wild Things
Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds,
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief.  I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day blind stars
waiting with their light.  For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

This Easter morning finds my bird bath frozen, as Ray took out its heater a
couple of weeks ago, and the temperature is at least 10 degrees below
freezing.  I’ve seen a few birds stare at the ice; I’m sure they’re
wondering what happened to the usually reliable pool of water.

One of my bird feeders is completely empty.  I just filled them yesterday,
which means if one or more of them are empty, the deer have been meandering
through our backyard looking for their free late night snack.  I’m surprised
I didn’t hear the dogs barking at them.  The half moon was high in the sky
providing plenty of illumination for the dogs to see the shadowy deer.

The rising sun looks like a glowing orange crystal.  I didn’t hear of any
Easter sunrise services that would be outside this morning, but if there are
any, the worshipers are wearing mittens and gloves and warm coats.  It’s a
throw back to winter mornings, except with no snow on the ground.

But this cold morning is only a pause in spring’s parade.  It will get
warmer again.  The red tulips will open and bloom in the garden.  The leaves
will emerge from their little buds.  The yellowish green tinge we now see on
the tree tops will soon be pure and solid green.  My bird bath will thaw
and stay liquid until fall.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and Nature sink in years;
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amid the war of elements,
The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds.
~Joseph Addison