Layers

Ariana Durling May 21, 2020

As I take my morning walk I am standing along the ravine, looking into the trees. And I can’t help but notice the “layers” I see. The first tree I see is an apple, but my view is only of the branches about mid “torso”  or trunk, if you will, of this apple tree, so I see dark brown bark. It is rough and split in places, but not ragged or old. Just beyond that, not far are the top ” end” branches of another fruit tree, possibly another apple, and the lines are fine, smooth and covered with white, pink blossoms. They seem to call out renewal, life, joy. Farther past that there is a willow with yellow-green buds that have burst open to reveal the slender elongated leaves that define it. It is gently moving in a breeze unseen, as no other trees are affected, as if dancing to it’s own tune. Next the trees and brush become entangled in my view, as the layers blend and the depth becomes harder to discern to my eyes, a mix of brown branches, green leaves, white petals. I imagine what it must be like for this horizontal landscape to be available to me, as it is the birds, squirrels and other animals that dwell here. I am reminded of the layers of childhood as we would build a blanket fort held up by the dining room table, inside the dining room, inside the first floor, inside the house, in the place of my youth.

Layers.

Our lives are full of layers. Yet we go about our lives paying very little attention. Each layer is somehow affected by the success of failure of the other. As in the forest, if a rather full tree dies, it fails to create the same shade the following year, in turn the undergrowth that was made of plants intolerant of bright sun can no longer thrive there, in turn a sun loving plant will send up a shoot, or a seed that has lain dormant can finally awaken. The birds who nested there and were hidden by the foliage, will  now relocate, but the woodpeckers , termites, and animals who need and want the softening lumber will flourish here.  

My layers have changed so many times. My life has been affected by so many things, but each layer has it’s own purpose, and I found over the years that every layer contains joy, no matter how dark it may seem. Sometimes a layer just passes in the blink of an eye, while others last years. Many times we are several layers later, before we notice.   My layers have turmoil but that illuminates the happy parts all the brighter.

I know this is the divine scheme of how time is set up. And looking back I smile.

Try to distinguish the layers round you today. They may surprise you,

Blessings to you always.