via ~Kathy O'Brien 

Fallen tree at Devil's Tower

In the quiet this morning while I was still half asleep I thought about the "stuff" with my mom.

It seemed to me to be like 

a tree that grew and grew and then fell down

and messed up the garden

just like the trees in the backest part of our back yard

it seemed to me that "forgiving" may be similar to how we chop up those great trees

my husband says he wants to build something from the fallen trees 

he says the wood is "curing"

(and if he does use the wood in time something special may come 

from the tree that a storm blew down)

I have seen fallen trees rotting in the woods on my walks with Sammy

I have poked them with sticks and seen insect infestations

and hollowed out shelters for small forest animals

last winter my husband used the chain saw to cut fire wood from the trunk of one of the trees

several times he built a fire on the root stump and every one enjoyed the heat outside during the cold

the fires inside were the best treats

I cleaned out the ashes several times and used them to nourish the yard

forgiveness may need to be like that

carved out of the great pain in small chunks

used to fuel warmth 

and maybe there will be pieces valuable enough to build something spectacular with

I always regret to see the waste of fallen trees left to rot