That final exercise...

We were asked to sit with our Gaia tree, make the star, meditate, and leave the star with thanks and offerings.

I had spent time with various trees. So I decided to cut up my bamboo canes and leave stars by three trees in the copse.

First, the ancient oak. I sat with the oak when I thought about the trunk.

I left the mandala, some apple, some suet pellets and a splash of kombucha (should have been my homemade mead), in a hollow at the base of the trunk.

The star sat next to the trunk of the juvenile oak, whose branches had enlightened me.

And then, of course, my poplar. I had sat with her when thinking of the roots.

Her branches are enough to make me weep. And yet there are new growths. So sparse. This is the end of her life. And, as I hybrid, I think she cannot bear fruit.