This past Saturday, we had tree trimmers come to trim some of our trees. It prompted me to also work on some overgrown shrubs in the yard. In the Spring, I usually do some pruning, but this year it just did not happen. Someone else mentioned that they were still waiting for summer even though tomorrow will be the first day of fall. The COVID19 pandemic has definitely altered routines.
The top two photos are the maple trees that hang over our driveway. the bottom two photos are some of my own work. The one on the lower left is a corner shrub that had just about touched the ground. The photo in the lower right corner is one of the shrubs that rings the other. They did not look too hot once the larger one was trimmed as they were not getting much light at all. The tree trimmer guy told me I would not recognize them next spring if I cut them way back.
There was much to cut off on those shrubs. I basically parked my butt on the ground and went to work. That gave me quite a bit of time to ponder what I was doing. The trees and shrubs seemed so much lighter as we worked. That made me think of how great it world be if I could trim my extra body weight the same way. That thought led me to think about some of the practices I had been reading about Rosh Hashana, one of which was going to a river end emptying your pockets. In one article I read it mentioned letting go of the extra weight of sin we carry around.
And here I am on Monday, the day I was going to begin a time of atonement myself even though I am not Jewish. I just felt the need to be more intentional with my days right now, as they all seem to bled into each other. My first thing was going to be my own practice of emptying my pockets–a practice I have learned is called tashlich or tachlikh. My first thought was to empty the coins in my billfold into the river as a sign of letting go of the idolatry of money, which I still might do, but I found a DIY Tashlikh practice online that I like better. Using bread is not considered ecological anymore. Maybe I will find some small sticks I can use instead. (As I look out the window at the piles of brush I have to giggle. Finding sticks will not be a problem for us!)
Taking down the tree above is bittersweet. We had one go down in a storm this spring that just missed the house. For that reason and others, we decided it needed to come down to prevent damage. This tree coming down reminds me that pruning and casting off our sins is not always easy.
Blessings and peace,
Christine
