She addresses the cedar, using words of the forest’s first humans. “Long Life Maker. I’m here. Down here.” She feels foolish, at first. But each word is a little easier than the next. “Thank you for the baskets and the boxes. Thank you for the capes and hats and skirts. Thank you for the cradles. The beds. The diapers. Canoes. Paddles, harpoons, and nets. Poles, logs, posts. The rot-proof shakes and shingles. The kindling that will always light.” Each new item is release and relief. Finding no good reason to quit now, she lets the gratitude spill out. “Thank you for the tools. The chests. The decking. The clothes closets. The paneling. I forget. . . . Thank you,” she says, following the ancient formula. “For all these gifts that you have given.” And still not knowing how to stop, she adds, “We’re sorry. We didn’t know how hard it is for you to grow back.”
~ Richard Powers, from “Patricia Westerford” in The Overstory: A Novel (April 3, 2018)
Notes:
- Photo: Western Red Cedar by Evan Leeson (James Bay, Victoria, British Columbia)
- Related Posts: Richard Powers
Live & Learn 
I need a ‘love’ button, please
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes! Thank you and we are sorry. 😢
LikeLiked by 1 person
Especially down under, where there is only sand and sun left.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha yes of course and just crocodiles and kangaroos in the street 👊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep. Can visualize all that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
humble gratitude at its finest.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes.
“Human beings, so small. And life, so very big.”
~ Richard Powers, from “Mimi Ma” in The Overstory: A Novel (W. W. Norton & Company, April 3, 2018)
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing the gratitude Dave.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gratitude- it’s the least we can do for the destruction we caused.
So beautiful, though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. And yes it is.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How wonderful to be moved so deeply by GRATITUDE! Thank you, David,
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes! Thanks Valerie…
LikeLike
thank you
LikeLiked by 1 person
Only just saw this…. And days after reading of the death of 9/13 baobab trees of up to 2.500 yrs… in a few years!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/11/giant-african-baobab-trees-die-suddenly-after-thousands-of-years
There is such a huge dose of daily desaster, sad news, rejected children, idiocity, greed…. makes it hard to keep positive.
LikeLiked by 1 person
amazing right! 2500 years and we are slaughtering them!
LikeLike