Might as well be hedonistic.
As you may have guessed, I have been dealing with some depression type issues of late. Today, instead of worrying if I am bipolar, I decided to do something life-affirming.
My friend Malinda has a tree. An American Chestnut tree.
This is a wonder in and of itself as the early part of the 20th century brought with it a blight that wiped out native chestnut populations throughout most of the country. The blight was though to have been brought here in the late 1800’s on Japanese chestnut trees. The result is that There are some naturalized American chestnut populations in Canada, and the northwestern U. S. that were established from seeds that the settlers took with them as they migrated. These trees are not resistant to the blight, but they thus far have been sufficiently geographically isolated from the blight fungus in the East that they have attained large size and are reproducing by seeds. There are some populations in Wisconsin (outside of the chestnut’s original range), but in recent years the blight has found them and many of these trees are falling despite efforts to check the disease.
Malinda has an American Chestnut tree. Amazing. It is glorious.
The tree began to blossom this morning. I know, this is what happens with trees in the spring, but this particular tree shared with me the most ethereal experience several years ago. An experience that I will literally drop everything to revisit.
Standing under the tree I heard incredibly loud buzzing. I thought I had angered a nest of bees and was a bit fearful. What I saw, amazed me. Hundreds of hummingbirds danced their way between the leaves high above my head, sipping nectar from the slowly opening blossoms as evening set in.
It is an other-worldly experience. It defies any real description.
The message came that today was the day.
I spent several hours with the tree and the hummingbirds. I lay in the grass and was amazed all over again.
Definitely hedonistic.