Trees by Joyce Kilmer

Trees by Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

I think that I shall never see 

A poem lovely as a tree. 

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed 

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; 

A tree that looks at God all day, 

And lifts her leafy arms to pray; 

A tree that may in Summer wear 

A nest of robins in her hair; 

Upon whose bosom snow has lain; 

Who intimately lives with rain. 

Poems are made by fools like me, 

But only God can make a tree.

Transcendence on a Misty Evening

As soon as I walked out of the hospital, I could feel it and so I chose to walk slowly, savoring every moment. My whole 0.7 mile walk to the subway station this evening was a mystical and transcendent thin place. It's chilly, misting droplets filling the air, and the twilight fading into the night. The softness of the air. The hum of a streetlight. The hint of the idea of an Autumn out of place. The sounds of children playing. The smells of dinners. The oddity of civic fireflies that flickered over green garbage cans and brownstones. A multitude of languages, cars whooshing by, bells on shop doors dinging the way in or the way out, music of all sorts coming from a distance down every street, the smell of fresh laundry, and an occasional breeze in the trees. I'm so grateful to have moments like this! Moments of satisfying joy, a twinge of sadness, a breath of excitement - Moments that fill me with inexplicable longing, yet fill me with this transitory life itself. I walked from the past, through the present, and touched the future tonight. Thanks be to God.

(Photo via google, but it grasps the feelings I had).

An afternoon walk

Yesterday afternoon, I went for a walk around the University of New Orleans campus. It was SUCH a gorgeous day, albeit too warm (85 and felt like 89) for this time of year. I needed to clear my head a bit. I have a super giant trip coming up after Easter and while I'm very excited about it, I'm also a bit nervous. It's to a place where Americans aren't welcomed often and in this time of "Trump talk", volatile angers, and pent up frustrations from some Americans manifesting themselves in negative ways, it's even more nerve-wracking to know I'm going to stick out even more than usual. I've become extremely strong though so I should hopefully be fine. Life is SO SHORT. I wish humans were better to each other in general.

                   

Between now and that trip, I have two festivals, three more days of classes, and a whole joyful mess of solemn Holy Week services. I LOVE Holy Week, but having classes makes it so much harder. I miss the times when we had spring break at the university so I could devote my whole self to the services and to a different sense of being. Even more, I cannot wait until I devote myself fully to liturgical endeavors. I need to prep for my trip too, get some lectures down, put together some music to take with me to give away, and ponder life in general.

Anyway, in spite of the hellish pollen that's coating every particle of every particle, it was a nice calming walk and beautiful too. I need to schedule more time to do that. I would also like to get out to the lakefront more often and to my favorite haunts in City Park!!!

                

The UNO campus was virtually destroyed in hurricane Katrina and hadn't really been too lush before that, but it's grown in the ten years I've been here into a very pretty space with pockets of flowery beauty, trees, and even some of those lush areas! Currently, they are re-doing the lily pond and I'm hoping the ducks will like the finished product and stick around!