In our front yard, there's a pear tree that has battled through harsh Northeastern winters, a hurricane that uprooted mighty oaks like a giant pulling up dandelions, an October snowstorm that felled its leaf-laden branches, and even the freakish loss of one of its longest limbs on a perfectly windless summer day. From time to time, landscapers or a tree removal company will see us out in the yard and stop their truck to ask if we'd like them to take down the tree. We always answer, "No, thanks." This beleaguered tree is positively inspiring. Fragile and vulnerable, yet strong and resilient. Right now, it looks like a big, lopsided Valentine.
Because I lived for many years in Manhattan, from time to time, my path would cross with a movie star or world-famous model. I still remember briefly meeting Paulina Porizkova at a department store appearance when she was the spokesmodel for Estee Lauder, at the height of her career, and thinking she was like an alien from a distant planet--stunningly beautiful beyond description, in a way not quite real. As she was representing a major cosmetics company, of course she was in full make-up, but I'm sure she would have been just as beautiful, if not more so, without the "mask." I see photos of her now, at age 48, and find her beautiful in an entirely different way. Not alien, but of this earth.
It's funny how we say we like things to be "100% natural", but then we bristle if they're not "perfect." People often like their trees shaped like gigantic lollipops, their lawns a uniform green, and their gardens meticulously manicured. My dentist was complaining to me recently that too many of his patients want their teeth to look like perfect picket fences, and how he has to convince them to go for a more natural look. "Natural" comes from "nature", of course, and nature is not perfect--yet it's beautiful nonetheless.
At this very moment, I can hear the loud buzzing of industrial-strength saws mowing down other trees in the neighborhood--still cleaning up from a hurricane seven months ago--and I'm gazing out the window at our pear tree. It's standing tall in the sunlight, in full, glorious bloom.
Do you find yourself striving for perfection or are you able to embrace how things really are? Do you routinely look for beauty in the everyday world? What's the last beautiful, 100-percent natural thing you remember seeing? Please share!
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Beautifully said! I often think of how much I love the quirky things about people I love and the way nature decides what do do with the things we plant. I appreciate how nature constantly surprises us.
Posted by: Janet's House | 05/01/2013 at 02:00 PM
Thanks for stopping by at my blog as well, Janet! I didnt know you were on Typepad, too. Glad to make your acquaintance across the blogosphere!
Posted by: Joy @ JoyfullyGreen.com | 05/01/2013 at 07:30 PM