Sunday, January 8
A Lumbering Sort of Way
Willie joined us at the fire for fellowship, today. We were all glad to see Willie.
I recognized Willie coming from a long way off. You see, Willie has a lumbering way about him. When I say lumbering, I picture Willie as this big sawed log meandering aimlessly down a ragging river … bobbing and weaving with no particular place to go, except downstream.
Willie sat by the fire, puffing his smoke as we talked. I asked him where he was laying his head at night. He lifted his hand and pointed, “In them trees over there.”
Willie pointed across the frozen yard to four majestic cottonwood trees. Those trees must be a hundred years old; they are HUGE. They only stand now because they stand on an abandoned section of City street; public property that has missed the developer’s axe up to this point.
Willie continued on, “I sleep there, on the roots of them four trees.”
After a contemplative stare into the fire, Willie added, “I warm up those trees when I sleep on the roots … they told me so.”
A gust of wind whipped flames into our coals. Willie leaned closer. “Something’s happenin’ to those trees. I know. I warm up the roots when I sleep on them and the branches move and tell me that something’s happening to those trees.”
Willie must have an inventive imagination piling up inside his old self. Maybe he doesn’t remember as well as he used to, either. I’ll bet Willie gets so lonely that when he finally does come around for a visit, all of his rememberings come out in a lumbered sort of way … kind of like when he walks into a scene.
Willie must see things in an incredible way, too. But, I could never call Willie crazy because I know that Willie is right: something is happening to those trees.
Those majestic cottonwood trees that warm Willie each night are destined to disappear in a near-future development. The trees must know that and are just telling Willie because if Willie keeps on getting any older, he’s gonna’ go the same as those old trees ... in a lumbering sort of way.
I think about Willie everyday. I hope he's around forever!
Willie joined us at the fire for fellowship, today. We were all glad to see Willie.
I recognized Willie coming from a long way off. You see, Willie has a lumbering way about him. When I say lumbering, I picture Willie as this big sawed log meandering aimlessly down a ragging river … bobbing and weaving with no particular place to go, except downstream.
Willie sat by the fire, puffing his smoke as we talked. I asked him where he was laying his head at night. He lifted his hand and pointed, “In them trees over there.”
Willie pointed across the frozen yard to four majestic cottonwood trees. Those trees must be a hundred years old; they are HUGE. They only stand now because they stand on an abandoned section of City street; public property that has missed the developer’s axe up to this point.
Willie continued on, “I sleep there, on the roots of them four trees.”
After a contemplative stare into the fire, Willie added, “I warm up those trees when I sleep on the roots … they told me so.”
A gust of wind whipped flames into our coals. Willie leaned closer. “Something’s happenin’ to those trees. I know. I warm up the roots when I sleep on them and the branches move and tell me that something’s happening to those trees.”
Willie must have an inventive imagination piling up inside his old self. Maybe he doesn’t remember as well as he used to, either. I’ll bet Willie gets so lonely that when he finally does come around for a visit, all of his rememberings come out in a lumbered sort of way … kind of like when he walks into a scene.
Willie must see things in an incredible way, too. But, I could never call Willie crazy because I know that Willie is right: something is happening to those trees.
Those majestic cottonwood trees that warm Willie each night are destined to disappear in a near-future development. The trees must know that and are just telling Willie because if Willie keeps on getting any older, he’s gonna’ go the same as those old trees ... in a lumbering sort of way.
I think about Willie everyday. I hope he's around forever!
Kelly
¶ 9:00 PM
