Under the Willow Tree

Most of the following was written last September:

I'm going to miss it here, under the willow tree in my parents' back yard. The sound of the breeze in the leaves. The sound of the waves lapping up against the shore. The bald eagles that sometimes perch nearby. The view of Mt. Rainier, when the clouds aren't hiding it. The sunset.

But let's face it. How many days out of the year is it even this nice here? As nice as it is today? How many days out of the year can I nap outside? Write outside? Spend the majority of the day outside? And not be cold.

With smart wool and blankets, more than you'd think. But that's just the seduction of summer in Seattle trying to lure me back in, before I've even left.

Seven more nights. Or something like that. And then I hit the road. Drive to Austin. Finish out 2012 there, focusing on writing and Sheng Zhen Gong. Maybe stay longer.

The timing's just right. This has been the year for all kinds of dreams coming true. And some of those dreams were conjured up and clarified under this willow tree, or at least nearby it.

Memories of Twiggy come back to me now. She was the Boston Terrier I picked out. Her name was Precious when she first joined the family. But soon we realized we had to change her name. And we changed it to Twiggy because she loved chewing on fallen twigs from the willow tree. Perhaps it's time to release her ashes. They've been in my closet for 10 years. Or more? Yep. Now's the time....

I never did release those ashes. Perhaps I will soon. Funny finding this blog draft now as I'm just a couple of weeks away from visiting this willow tree. And it was memories of lying in the grass beneath it that recently led me to cancel my road trip plans and buy a plane ticket instead. 8 hours rountrip rather than 80 hours means much more time for sprawling out in my parents' back yard. Had a dream last night too about being back there, and about extending my stay into late September. And since my dreams have been known to come true before, I'm curious now about this one. Time will tell; it always does. 

There are so many more little snapshots of memories that come back to me as I sit here now thinking about being "under the willow tree." But I think I'll wait and see what, if any, inspiration comes to write more, while actually under the willow tree next month. 

It's also interesting to see here that I'd thought I'd spend much more time outside by moving to Austin. Not so sure that's been the case, especially this summer. But perhaps more on that another time....



© 2013 Rebecca Clio Gould. All rights reserved.