Benny and I find an early sunrise and a slice of the Spirit Tree | Andrea de Michaelis – Creating my own reality, one thought at a time

I can see the sunrise an hour earlier now

I went outside predawn yesterday to water in the back garden area, newly cleared by the power company tree cutters. It was my first sunrise in the new space. Usually I don’t see the sun until it rises over the treeline to the east, which is generally a couple of hours after sunrise. Yesterday I got to see it while it was still low on the horizon, something I’ve never done before in this house I’ve lived in for 30 years. Not only that, I felt the breeze from the east, something else I seldom feel in this yard. I’ve got three lots of woods each to my east and west, so a breeze has to break through some dense oaks and pines to get to me. With the area cut open under the power lines for as far as the eye can see, I stood watching the sunrise and feeling the wind blow through me and it felt like a glorious new day.

Benny the Cat has been enjoying the new garden space as well. Formerly, he related it to the big black tomcat who stalks him, who liked to lurk in the shadows. His hanging branches now gone and the space open to the sun and wind, black tom has retreated to the woods. As I stood watering, for the first time ever Benny joined me in the yard and played nearby. He usually runs right into the brush. He’ll be two at Christmas. He chases everything that moves and, in my yard, everything moves! Lizards, snakes, mice, moles, voles, crickets, butterflies, dragonflies, birds.

After having him about 6 months I realized he’ll go in and out the cat door but will come inside to use the litter box. The reason I let my cats go outside on their own is so I don’t have to clean a cat box. So he’d play outside, sometimes for up to 32 hours, and then come in and use the box right away. Grrr…

But in the new garden space, I watched him play and jump in the air nearby, and that’s the first time he’s done that in the yard with me. It felt very companionable. I think I’ll plant him some catnip back there. He seemed like a more confident cat. He’s been standing up to YinYang when she pulls her stalk and snarl routines. He keeps wanting out the back door, so I’ve finally just let him come and go out that door as he pleases. If he comes in through the cat door, Yinnie is waiting on the other side of it. She loves to foil his plans. But the last few days, he sticks close to the house, sometimes on the roof, sometimes in the gardens or firepit area. And he comes right back in. That tells me he’s not afraid to go outside and come across black tom, nor to be inside with YinYang. And he hasn’t used the litter box in days! Yay for growing up!

As I was picking up sticks and branches, I found a perfectly shaped slice of the Spirit Tree on the ground beneath it. It’s about 18″ wide by 12″ tall, with smooth surfaces. I’m going to paint a scene of the tree on it. I have to let it dry for about 6 weeks, and prepare it to accept the paint. Until then, I’ll place it on the altar and let my mind soak in its essence during meditation.