2024-12-24

Dear Blue Spruce:

Our collective ongoing rush to get this and that done -- now and throughout the year -- sometimes causes one to take for granted your steady vigil through the years and decades.  We forget your magic in turning scary winds into gentle whispers, scorching sun into refreshing shade, all while you grace the air with a scent to relax our soul.

When we mourn the loss of loved ones who helped make that last Christmas together a bit more merry, you remind that reaching for Heaven might allow us to embrace the Angels.  That you are a part of traditional medicine, then, is like a hug on the inside from the ages and the ageless:  it is our good fortune when you share your special gifts.

Our evenings remembering the Special Child become more tangible if we spend some time decorating you (or, at least, your stand-in) just so.  The brilliance of the Hosts becomes felt more if we can glimpse a few sparkles among your branches and foliage.  Your noble poise while so adorned reminds of Marcus Aurelius' thoughts about embracing and embodying the good sides of the lost loved one, to be like them so the lost lives on within.

Although we may sometimes forget to more directly, personally express our appreciation of you and your cousins to you, may you always recognize your vitality in causing us to wish blessings and good cheer to others... and to whisper an "I miss you and I love you..." for those we can not see....