Prayer for a Tree

In the storms this weekend the incredible heritage oak tree behind my house fell down. I heard a sharp crack on Friday night and assumed it was a clap of thunder. When I woke in the morning and began my ritual puttering, I glanced out the window and thought "something is not right!" The tree (really two trees grown together, several hundred years old according to the arborist) had half-fallen over. Actually, the roots simply came up out of the soil; the tree was too heavy.) Suddenly the neighborhood was abuzz and we decided that I and several others needed to get out of our houses until the tree people had come. They came, with yellow tape and chain saws,and secured the area, and told us that the second tree would most likely fall. It did, last night. Another large crack.

I am sad; I loved the tree, the children who played under it, the birds who lived in it, the shady backyard it provided. I am thankful no one was hurt; a man was killed today in another part of the Bay Area by a similar incident. I marvel at Mother Earth, who nurtured this tree despite the too-close-encroachment of houses.  I have a wonderful prayer card from the Onondaga Nation, which says, among other things:

TO THE EARTH

mother of all

greetings and thanks

THE TREES

for shelter and shade

fruit and beauty

greetings and thanks

Thank you, Tree!