nests – Diane McGyver

In the past few weeks, temperatures have dipped below zero a few times, gracing the early morning landscape with frost. It makes the air crisp and refreshing.

The leaves have clung to the trees fairly well in spite of a few days of high winds. In fact, the day I planted my Midgarden garlic (update coming soon), most of the leaves were still attached to the branches of the Horse Chestnut that hung over the end of the bed. That night, we reach -2 degrees Celsius. Heavy frost greeted us at dawn. Walking into the garden, I was shocked to see about 1/3 of the leaves from the huge tree had fallen and blanketed the ground, burying one end of the garlic bed in a thick layer.

A few days later, another 1/3 of the leaves fell off. Within a week, only a few remained on the horse chestnut.

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I’ve often watched birds, considered what they might be thinking and wondered over how they lived their life. I recall thinking many times, with regard to birds and most animals, they have no possessions. Silly humans – we fill our lives with possessions and become burdened with them.

Birds build a nest for the short time they need one, then leave it all behind – every year.

I suppose this thought process fueled these thoughts by Mary Lola Barnes after she received disappointing news.

After exchanging good-byes, Mary hung up the phone. She walked out the back door and plopped down into the patio chair. It was a cool evening, and the forecast threatened frost. Still, she sat without a sweater and let time pass. Robins flew in and flew out, but she didn’t rejoice in their presence. They were birds who flew where instinct took them; they carried no belongings or worries. They sought a place to call their own for short periods of time, long enough to raise their young, then depart for other places far beyond her yard and community. Perhaps birds had it right; when the nest was empty, move onto the next part of life.

The Salvation of Mary Lola Barnes is available for pre-order exclusively at Amazon:

Release Date: October 27, 2020

Tag: nests

The Season of Naked Trees

Mary Lola Barnes’ Thoughts on Life

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