I love willow trees.

This Golden Willow was just three feet tall a few years ago.

I noticed that the willow tree and I share some things in common.

Their young branches shoot straight up as if the sky’s the limit for all their possibilities. I was like that as a younger man. Confident in my own abilities. Perhaps I even considered myself to be self-made, certainly independent. My viewpoint was higher and therefore better.

But, as the willow limbs get longer and heavier, they begin to bow over a bit. I was like that during my middle age. You begin to realize that Life cannot be conquered and an awakening occurs that you are actually part of something much bigger than yourself.

Finally, like the willow branch, as you gain more experience with love and loss, joy and sorrow, new and old, you bow your head deeply and silently and you feel the sacredness of it all – and begin providing comfort and shade for others with a little bit of wisdom for the new branches- who think the sky’s the limit…

And now with more evidence that I have lost my marbles, yesterday I actually welcomed the new branches on the redwood tree. They are so soft and really very beautiful. I softly touched them and said “Welcome my new friend. Welcome to our world.”