Chapter 54: A Tree Falls in Tahoe
It is time once again to Stew on this! The razor’s edge we all dance upon every single day of this earth walk...
This will likely be a short chapter. Hillary and I have just arrived in London after a red-eye flight that featured a young child screaming deafeningly for hours at a time in the row in front of us. It was also a rather hectic week leading up to our trip (for reasons that you shall discover momentarily).
Off we go…
Living in Lake Tahoe is a continual dance with Mother Nature. This is the main reason we live there, and it is absolutely wonderful - the great majority of the time. There is, of course, the ever-present challenge to coexist with a host of critters that seem to crave coming into our house, such as ants, mice, squirrels, and bears.
And occasionally Mama Nature pulls out the heavy bat and swings for the fences. This could come in the form of a ridiculous amount of snow and/or an extended power outage.
Indeed, we had 24 hours without electricity last week. That is no big deal in and of itself, even though the timing was not great. It turns out that a cold, dark house is not exactly conducive for packing or preparing for a month in Europe.
But the windstorm that knocked out our power also toppled an 80-foot pine tree directly onto our house, as you can see in the photos.
All is well. Amazingly, our little house withstood the airborne assault with mild(ish) damage.
In reflecting on this last night on the plane, in between ear-shattering screams, I thought once again about the razor’s edge we all dance upon every single day of this earth walk. Even I, who prides himself on his deep connection with nature, take an extraordinary number of important things for granted. Like trees staying upright most of the time, for example.
I also still get hung up about lots of things that do not matter in the least. The tree has helped me with that tremendously.
It has reminded me that Universal and Innate Intelligence have conspired to create a magnificent garden that displays unimaginable beauty and incomprehensible harmony, even after centuries of humans separating themselves from it and interfering with it at every turn.
(By the way, are you aware of the toll that the growth of AI is taking on our planet’s resources?)
So, I am grateful to the tree, not only for offering its beauty and shade for the past 37 years that we have lived in our house, but also for the reminder that separating from nature is impossible no matter how hard we try and how effectively we believe we have done it.
And that is a good thing, because we are part of nature too.
I am reminded of the Native American tribe that begin every single day (even in public schools; even nowadays) with a 20-minute affirmation of appreciation for nature and its gifts, including everything from the tiniest creatures and plants to the entire universe and the Great Spirit.
Somehow this sounds better to me than starting the day by watching the “news.” Now there is something worth separating from!
That is all folks…Stew on that, and I will see you next time (though while we are here in Europe, I am not sure when exactly that will be).
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