Janetl

Hi. I am grateful for many blessings in my life, including meeting the many BTR friends over the past year. 2/12/12 This was a good day to talk to a mighty cottonwood tree outside the large windows of my Unitarian church. She was the topic of today's ministry when she sent me a personal message. She said "you are much like me. I have grown with all my branches, steady through all the changes over a 100 years--threats of being destroyed for construction and destructive elements. Around me you see trucks that have been pruned. Those are branches that died for that tree spirit. Closed off. Ignored and not nurtured. For me, as I stand here growing, your branches too are expanding. Yes, even though you think that you have closed off, with every time you "create", you are growing another branch from your strong trunk that is still standing in all your glory. You survived. And you are aging and evolving more graceful than you think. That's because you have reinvented yourself and open to possibilities of the heart. When you bloom your heart and open her more freely, your branches will bloom the blossoms of joy." Thank you Mother Earth. Thank you grand cottonwood. 9//1/2011 Outside my window is a coniferous tree that is more beautiful than any other trees in the area. Five or so years ago she lost her tree top. You know how important tree tops are to an evergreen. It's her steeple. Her injury made her look, "flawed". For two years, during her repair growth I didn't think she would ever look like a coniferous tree. For more than two years I kind of ignored her. Then, this year, I couldn't help but notice her. There was more precipitation than normal, which helped her fill in, regrow, and thrive. She has perfected her shape. By looking at her, you would think that beneath her perfectly shaped exterior is a straight trunk. Instead, she found a way to grow--from the side of her trunk--a "replacement" tree top to make up for