Living and Dying Again

Lately I’ve been confronted with the reality and permanence of death. It’s always there but usually it’s easier to look away or at least put a good face on it. That said, there’s nothing I love better than being alive. And, for me, that means being forthright at looking at and acknowledging death. You really can’t have one without the other.

Which brings me to this shot of a black cherry tree. The trunk branches off pretty low to the ground and clearly one of its limbs has met a sorry end. Yet this mostly dead limb is situated right next to the living trunk. This tree is facing some life-and-death challenges, and yet, there it is: both there, both living together, side-by-side.

Trees live - and die - differently from people. Their lives are longer and slower than ours. And so are their deaths. Death seems to come in stages and in such a way that the dying doesn’t overshadow the living, simply coexists with it.

I’m not sure I can muster the grace of trees but I’d like to live my life in a similar way.