Ever since Lisa-Jo started this little series, I’ve been daring myself to take part in it. She invites us to set the clock for 5 minutes and “just write and not worry if it’s just right.” This weeks prompt is On Distance.
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A tree fell in our neighbors yard last week. The storm came unexpectedly, at least to me. It was 3 am when the kids woke us up, and even The Man whispered to me Let’s go downstairs. He sleeps through storms, never takes cover.
So the next morning when the sun came out and we walked outside to see what damage had been done, we saw the tree lay long across the cul-de-sac. And I remembered my thing for trees. They have seen so much, so many families living here, so many stories lived out beneath them. They hold within them secrets of community life, people who live so close to one another, yet so far from connection.
I love to see names carved in a tree. It’s probably bad for the tree, but it’s good for my soul: these people were here, so many years ago. Far away in time, but right here where my hand touches.
My sister and I spent years of our childhood on a tree beside our grandmothers house in southern Indiana. We loved that tree, that house. We loved to hang and sit from it’s branches and make soup from it’s berries. But that was a long time ago.
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Are you a writer in need of a jump start? Join us a Lisa-Jo’s place this morning. Dare yourself to write in freedom without worry about the outcome. It might do your heart a world of good.
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