A Fall Morning

 

JOURNAL

A Fall Morning

Bill Barksdale, Columnist

It’s a foggy morning, cold outside.  The water for tea is heating up on the stove.  Our old cat, Rudi, is curled up at my feet napping.   A blue jay just squawked as it flew by in the back yard.  I always love these foggy mornings.  There’s something mysterious and almost mystical about the fog.  When we lived in the country I loved walking in the woods when it was foggy.  The dogs running out ahead of us, sniffing and exploring who had been there the night before – a raccoon or skunk family, perhaps a mountain lion or bear.  They all shared the land with us. 

One thing I miss living in town is the harbinger of spring, the song of the Hermit Thrush.  I always noted in the household journal when the first one sang his flute-like song.  I don’t hear them here in town.  The Hermit Thrush has a whole repertory of songs as it marks its territory.  That must be one of the most beautiful and elegant of bird songs.  One would sing its song, then another would answer from a different location, repeating that same tune.  “I hear you. My family will live over here in this part of the forest and you that part.” was the message. 

But this is Fall, not Spring.  The seasons mark the passing of time.  I’m having a lot of tomatoes ripening at the same time so that’s a big component of our evening salads.  There are apples to harvest and load up the bins in the fridge or make into juice.  Those will last us for months – morning smoothies sweetened with our own apples.  I’ve been reading Dr William W. Li’s book, Eat To Beat Disease – The Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself.  He is a big fan of eating apples every day.

We cleaned the chimney and spark arrester of the woodstove recently in preparation for that comforting warm glow of the hearth.  My morning writing chair is snuggled next to the wood stove where we can both enjoy that steady heat along with a cup of tea.  Rudi will move to his favorite spot in front of the stove once it gets going.  He has his many spots throughout the house but next to the wood stove is his wintertime favorite. 

I saw the most amazing yellow leaves yesterday when out walking, and then passed a tree of brilliant red.  Year round we are surrounded by every shade of green here in our Northwest California, that and the gold of the summertime grassy hills.  I remember how my late sister-in-law, Corinne, used to love visiting in the summer.  She was amazed by the colors that surround us here.  Being from Northern Illinois where the land is flat and filled with miles of corn fields, she always appreciated the hills and mountains of our magnificent Pacific Northwest. 

Recently we were driving on impossibly twisty Highway 20 to visit friends for lunch on the edge of the blue Pacific Ocean.  I remarked how people come from all over the world to behold the awe inspiring redwoods that we sometimes take for granted.  There are precious few of the really huge, ancient old-growth redwoods left.  There are few living things on Earth as splendid and truly amazing as these trees. 

We have a sacred duty to preserve those that remain so that future generations can actually be in the presence of something that has lived for hundreds, or even well over a thousand years!  Think of it, when William Shakespeare and Genghis Khan roamed England and Asia, some of these trees were already ancient, the Roman Empire was collapsing in the 6^th century, Siddhartha Gautama was a baby, not yet the Buddha – and these trees, some still living today, were sheltering the original inhabitants of this land.  To touch an old-growth redwood tree is to literally touch one of the greatest living survivors on Earth.  We are privileged to share such a truly amazing place!

These are challenging times.  Human history has often been a history of conflict.  Like the predatory but beautiful blue jay that flew over my backyard a while ago, who often feeds on the eggs of other song birds, humans too squawk and stalk and try to dominate each other.  Why, I don’t know.  We have the capacity to be intelligent enough to live in harmony, but many choose not to. Many choose to believe they alone have the truth for everyone else, and therefore a right to dominate others.  Like the predatory, small-brained blue jay, we often choose to threaten and say “you’re either with me or against me” – but that’s just a domination tactic.

We can choose to “live and let live” – to find a way to live in some sort of harmony.  We’re intelligent enough but not smart enough it seems.  As President Kennedy said when I was just a child, we can destroy all that human kind has created in just 24 hours.  Blue jay has no such ability.  Only our will to find our way to live and let live in harmony and good-will can help us now.  No one has all the answers.  Only a fool thinks they do.  “What fools these mortals be” said Shakespeare – some but not all, I hope.   

But I see I’ve strayed from my peaceful state of mind on this beautiful, foggy morning.  I don’t control what others do, only my own thoughts and deeds.  I have to keep reminding myself of that.  We all have that quiet, peaceful place inside – but one has to occasionally sit quietly and breathe, and allow it to be. 

Rudi just yawned and stretched out with a cat smile on his face – then contentedly back to his nap.

Bill Barksdale was inducted into the 2016 Realtor® Hall of Fame, and served as Chair of the County of Mendocino Assessment Appeals Board settling property tax disputes between the County Assessor & citizens and businesses.  Read more of Bill’s columns on his blog at www.bbarksdale.com