So exciting! The base of the Minerva Oak was no longer a floodplain, so I was able to climb up!
While I was there, I did an exercise suggested by Asia Suler, using, as inspiration, a poem by John O'Donohue, "Beannacht". The task was to spend only ten minutes on it.
Here is the poem, altered only very slightly.
To the Minerva Oak
On the day when the tides flood in,
dark and daring,
sweeping the soil from around your roots,
May the earth's hold on you be strong - s
o you stand, firm and fair.
And, when the heat draws like flame
every drop from the land,
May a secret spring under your stem support
your green and glorious vitality.
When winds wildly roar
like tigers preparing to pounce -
the only voice that can countermand creation -
May there be bend enough in your branches
that you can ride the blast like surf
May the sweet songs of birds
always serenade you.
May the insects find their homes
in your generous frame.
May the moss deck your limbs
as fine silks cloak a queen.
May the death that comes,
as it inevitably will,
be a gift to a blessed future.
And so may you be
the being you already are:
great and wise and giving.
On the way back, I saw new growth on a rather spindly little oak, whose bark is extensively damaged from the ground to about twelve feet up.
Phoenix growth of Lammas leaves.
What happy togetherness -- you and Minerva Oak!! And the poem you give the Oak is a lovely and special blessing.💚