And she asks her friends to blow away my cells of ingratitude...

Timeframe of event: July early 2000s...

As I slept under the stars at an overlook... 

The Saddle on the Blue Ridge Parkway...

***

I came here angry this evening 

And the old bare tree which no longer bares leaves 

Meets me

As she always does

She has stood here for decades 

On the east side of The Saddle

Where the sun rises

The wind blows and blows

But she doesn't move with the wind

For she is old and no longer flexible

But neither does the wind break her

She is twisted and gnarled by the winds of these mountains 

Some may call her ugly 

But even through my anger

I momentarily notice her beauty

Yet my anger is stronger than my notice-of-her

Anger at husband and children

Anger at feeling used 

Anger at the illness that wracks my body

And the old tree is sad

Sad that I don't embrace her beauty, her sacredness

My anger prevents me in its moment

But she does not retaliate; it is not her way

Instead, she witnesses my anger as I pull out the camping lounge chair

From the back of my green Dodge Caravan

And set it up between her and the vehicle

Huffing and puffing and cussing at life

As she watches 

She asks her friends, the trees

To blow away my cells of ingratitude 

She asks them to heal my heart

I traipse across the small, asphalt parking lot

To the west side of The Saddle 

I watch the sun set behind Buffalo Moutain

I notice the tree on this side of The Saddle

Its branches filled with leaves and swaying in the wind

Singing a tune

That night as I lie under the clear moonless sky

On the east side of The Saddle

Next to the old bare tree that no longer bears leaves...

Dozens of shooting stars streak across the sky!
Dozens!

A spectacular display of light trails!

Star dust...

For hours, I gaze

Amazed, in awe

Just me, and the wind, and the trees

And the clear, moonless night sky

Singing with streams of light 

I think of Abraham in the Bible

And how his offspring would number more than the stars of heaven

More than the grains of sand upon the earth

Gratitude fills my heart

I am of this one blood dating back millennia

Dating back millions of years to stardust

From which I was born

These stars and I are kin

The wind and I are kin

And the old bare twisted, gnarled, beautiful sacred tree

Who no longer bears leaves

Who gives witness to me 

Little ole' me

She and I are kin...