Clearing

Impermanence has struck again. The logger cut down 6 trees yesterday, and my side "yard," which was really only an herb garden, is now quite spacious and airy.

Sometimes, it's time to clear away portions of our life--relinquish a toxic relationship, turn loose of some responsibilities or a volunteer job, renounce an addictive habit, opt out of e-mail newsletters.

Even though letting go is difficult, we are rewarded with a feeling of "Ahhh." Now we can breathe again. Now we can see the forest for the trees.

In my side yard, some trees have been sacrificed. Now i can see more clearly.

Peach Fantasy

20 years ago, a gardening friend gave me a little peach tree, which i squeezed into a not very sunny spot at the back of a flower bed.

I was thrilled to see my first peaches, but then the raccoons got to them first.

A few years later, a branch, laden with young fruit, split off. This branch-breaking is common with peach trees. Our nearby peach orchard loses several heavy branches every year.

Now sawed down to one remaining branch, this year that one branch has broken off, heavy with small green peaches.

How many things do we squeeze into our lives, seeking to savor the sweetness of material goods, friends, travel or what have you?

Yet, the fruit doesn't yield as we had hoped. Material goods need to be maintained. Friends lose touch. Travel is stressful.

It's time to cut the peach tree down altogether. It's time to renounce my fantasy of home-grown peaches.

What, in our daily lives, is it time to renounce?