Time for a Break

Spring break has come and gone, and with it a score of beautiful moments.

One of my favorite things about life in general is getting to visit my Granny and her land in Bowie, TX. I try to visit several times a year. Being out there makes me feel whole again. As my best friend Bethany once told me, “time just moves slower out there.”

Out on Granny’s farm, there are no noisy neighbors. There are no buses, cars, and definitely no Harleys.

Instead, there are bird songs, the rush of wind in ancient oak branches, gently rattling leaves, and the faint bell tones of wind chimes.

Out there in the middle of nowhere, I can finally rest– in the truest way possible. I get my very best sleep out there in that country home. And, it doesn’t hurt that my Granny is the best cook on the planet. Oren came with me this trip, and I can assure you: we were VERY well fed.

One of my favorite things about being out at Granny’s is getting to wander around her land on foot. I call it hiking… more adventurous souls would consider it walking. The land is a bit flat at times. But I think it’s the most beautiful spot of land in the world.

This time, when Oren and I went walking, we took a long way round the oil pads and happened upon a miracle.

Backstory:
Bethany and I used to wander the pastures for hours, all the time. We found a tree that was simply the most beautiful tree on the whole place, and we named her Old Anna. Our plan was to build a tree house in her lower branches… but we sadly never got there. When the oil company moved in and carved out their slabs of gravel, we believed Old Anna to be lost. We never found her again.

Anyway. Oren and I took a back way around the pasture, and happened on a path that hadn’t been driven on in quite some time. The truck tracks were faint, and the bushes and trees had encroached a bit on the pathway. Animal tracks abounded.

Yet, I knew this path like the back of my hand. This sandy road came straight from Old Anna! My heart remembered it so strongly.

I broke into a run, speeding up to the place where I knew in my heart she should stand.

And, there she was.

An ancient old oak tree, standing tall and proud in a clearing, away from all other trees. Surrounded by currently-fried monkey grass fronds, standing almost like subjects before their queen.

My excitement was uncontrollable! I of course had Oren take a million pictures of me with Old Anna that I could show to Bethany later that day, and I lived the joy of our discovery all week.

There’s just something wonderful about old, huge trees.

Something special happens when you recover an old friend that you believed to be lost.

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life. – Hermann Hesse 

 
Dorky Mandi with Old Anna

Mandi