Good In Everything

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And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the
running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.
– William Shakespeare

Amen to that!

This post marks the end of Tree Fortnight. I’ll be on the road and heading towards Canada tomorrow.

You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Till It’s Gone

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Parking lot, Taiwan

They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half just to see’em.
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone.
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.
– Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi

Sufficiency

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Forest East of Mount Shasta

A tree growing out of the ground is as wonderful today as it ever was.
It does not need to adopt new and startling methods.
– Robert Henri

Ancient Aliveness

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Lone tree in the Lava beds near Medicine Lake, California.

The flowing water makes the still mountain move;
the vivid trees make the obdurate stone alive.
– Shitao

I am making a mental note to do a post about yesterdays outing to the Lava Beds and Glass Mountain. The barren landscape holds exquisite depth and aliveness which this poem encapsulates so well.

When I Am Gone

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When I am gone
And the house seems empty
Do not thou,
O plum tree by the eaves
The Spring forget.
See Honouring The Buddha post