Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

We had a little earthquake last night, and my daughter texted about it. It's comforting to know we live close to each other and can help each other. My four year old grandson felt it and talked about it this morning. He said he was shaking in his chair. We were on an early morning playground outing, so early the fog was all around us and it was chilly. The big excitement for both boys was a large crane and tree people taking down three enormous trees by the playing field. Free entertainment. The trees hadn't been drought affected, they were leaning and the park service was afraid they would fall on the parking lot. They are beautiful trees, but the park service has to be vigilant about safety, so I understand. We've just lost so many trees in the west these last few years - a billion - that each loss is sad. Our cabin has probably had twenty five trees removed due to safety, in the thirty plus years we've owned it, and this spring a huge tree branch came down and tore our powerlines right out of the box, so we had to have it repaired to have electricity. Last year a sugar pine cone fell on the nextdoor cabin deck where my friends were staying and hit my friend, whom I was sitting next to, on the head, face and arm. The force broke her glasses and there was blood at each place, but luckily nothing that needed medical attention. We have five umbrellas on our deck to deflect any cones or branches from hitting us. Like water, trees are heavier and more lethal than you would think. Yet they are the main reason we bought the cabin and love being up there. The cedars, firs, pines and oaks make the atmosphere calm and peaceful, and without them it wouldn't be worth coming up. I like the trees in Lord of the Rings, and their sadness when fellow trees fall. They are a community, and one that enriches our lives.