uprooted

there's a tree down on neal this morning. a big one. his roots show. this is one of the ents but not one of the norwegian bachelors. *and* some others went down with him. because they were entwined and near and sheltered.


neal avenue has become a significant metaphor for me. things happen out there, unseen then discovered. the facade is changeless in 20 years but underneath it's tougher and tangly.

life.

the familiarness is still calming and comfortable. i still feel sheltered but the polite distance from the "road" has disappeared. bushwacking comes to mind. but as always verdant, thriving, sprawling, transforming. Of course, the hole in the wall, the beautiful symetrical arching entrance to the field, was changed a couple years ago when one of the sentries fell. More, the people who "clean up" have no sense of the esthetic. parts and pieces are left everywhere, branches rudely piled sideways and the sky gapes through. i don' look that way anymore. the new farmer doesn't make that a field road cutting east to west as pete did, so there isn't the magical aisle that i once enjoyed.

past the norwegian bachelors, the south end now has more significance. the brush has established itself as trees now. the feel is still open, windy, warm but not exposed. the corner-of-my-heart tree has become a doorway now. guess we have three parts. *and* the huge offensive brush pile which brings us to a premature end is home for i think hundreds of things. i'm almost afraid to be near it.

i never make my way to the smith farm anymore. maybe some day when i don't take the dogs.

i guess, facade is right. fences, "brushing", fallen trees, encroachments everywhere. it's essence still?

shelter.
vigor.
grandeur, rough shod version.
change.
wonder.
company.

k