Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Winter Greens

"The wind lifted me up into
the trees, where I danced to the
rhythm of the evergreen, swaying
to the tune of the northern breeze,
frozen in timeless melody."
  
~ Christy Ann Martine ~ 



My first childhood home had pine trees on one side. Some were pretty tall. While outside, I got the idea to climb all the way to the tip top of the tallest one. Up I went, without telling my mom or little brother - who would obviously - tell my mom.

It didn't take long to figure out long hair didn't fare well in pine branches and sap. I tied it back & kept going. The further I climbed, the more I noticed the tree that once seemed still... definitely was not. Before long, we were swaying side to side. So I stopped and sat in silence. Mom yelled for me from the back deck. I kept still as possible and watched her from above. She never saw me and went back inside.

I stayed up there for what seemed like a long time after. There was only a light breeze, and it was so peaceful that time seemed to stop. All at once I realized it was starting to get dark, and I didn't want mom looking for me again, so back down I went. It's funny - as a kid I never thought that would be one of the memories I'd hold onto 30 years later...


Here are the sources & free
graphics used in my artwork:

*Tuck Ephemera*

*The J. Paul Getty Museum*
Juniper
 
*Image Event*

*Lilac & Lavender*

*The Graphics Fairy*

*Boston Public Library*
White flowers


13 comments:

  1. Your mom must’ve been worried

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    1. Yes, she probably was. We lived in the country, and had a lot of freedom to explore. Probably just figured I was somewhere in the woods. She didn't find out what exactly happened until many years later ;)

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  2. Great memory, how brave you were. Thank you for this lovely page and the links.

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    1. Thank you, Pat! Yes, I did feel brave! My daughter has grown up to be a daring tree climber herself. One day, I had a similar experience. She was putting a birdhouse in one of our tall scrub pines! I was part proud & part, "Please come down now!"

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  3. What an adventure for a child, but how scary it could have turned out.

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    1. Hi Theresa! Yes, I was testing my limits for sure. Thankfully it all turned out alright. Only climbed up there once - that was enough for me!

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  4. Thank you for the lovely tags! I never attempted to climb a pine tree but did climb a couple of others, just never in the winter, either. I didn't go as high as I maybe could have because all that swaying of the limbs was scary.

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    1. You're welcome, Cindy! I think my climb was actually in late summer or fall. The swaying was scary, and that's what stopped me that day, and probably stopped me from climbing that tree again.

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  5. I too loved climbing trees, and would sit up in them and read - above the leave canopy in one particular tree, so my mother could not see me, much to her frustration! She often stood directly underneath, but if I stayed really still, she would not spot me...
    Thanks for the memory
    Stay safe
    Blessings
    Maxine

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    Replies
    1. Maxine, thank you for sharing your tree climbing memories as well! Guess I'm not alone in hiding from my mother in trees ;) I had a beautiful maple outside my window that was my all-time favorite tree to climb. It had branches not too high up that were just right for sitting on, or even lying back on. It's still there, but much taller and more of a challenge for this girl to climb! Still love that tree.

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  6. I loved the color selection, I really like green. I liked the blog and I'm already following. https://beperes.blogspot.com/

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“Kind words can be short and easy to speak,
but their echoes are truly endless.”

~ Mother Teresa