Hand Lens Holiday
There’s a song for what we’re up
against hummed by the trees — in
deep time, our ears struggle madly.
So, today I am taking mine!
Rolling on the ground to uncover true
north. A compass from the air. Writhing
mad everywhere else.
There’s not much I can say about
divinity or laundry that
hasn’t been said by rote folding:
shirts, hands, bodies.
But from up close I saw more mosses
than I could imagine — all on one
stump. Something is working
beside me.
Inspired by a short trip to the Olympic Peninsula last weekend. The mosses there are more than you could make up, and taking a second to look closely and count the varieties was an exercise in attention and humility. In the moment, and still, I feel lucky to witness it.
First stanza makes a wild assumption that because trees can warn each other about danger from beetles, disease, etc. (they can!), perhaps they are also warning each other about climate change, etc. Obviously they’d be more articulate about it than we are, so they are singing it to each other.
Lastly, small shoutout to Bon Iver for the inspiration in the third stanza. In the song 33 “God” he says “I could go forward in the light, but I’ve gotta fold my coat.” Love that tension — felt every day.