Shal of the Trees
Almost every month for the past dozen years, right around the full moon, Shal and i go out and climb trees.
When i started i was pretty poor at it. Fortunately, Shal invented patience and these days i can bound up an ironwood, with lousy shoes and poor visibility. i never climbed trees as a kid, apparently it was not yet time for it.
Our full moon rituals tend to start late and run late. Last night i went to bed sometime after 3 AM. But the bright moonlight was highly illuminating; i could almost differentiate the vibrant colors in Shal’s hat.
Shal is one of my dearest friends. We have shared intimate relations, we have worked projects together, we are each other’s confidants. And yet we are quite different as people go. Shal is careful, i am reckless. Shal is patient, i am already on to the next thing. Shal is modest.
Friendships are not about homogeneity in community. This village is too small to pretend that there is someone just like you. So what we do instead is we find people that we like and learn how to meet them where they are. When Coyote and i first started hanging out, he was very into the Yankees (he ditched them when manager George Steinbrenner invited Dick Cheney to his box seats). So i learned about baseball, about why the short stop is the most important position, about Roger “The Rocket” Clemens and why he was the best pitcher in the game and other tidbits which would prove useful in train club cars.
Where i meet Shal is 50 feet in the air, full moon beaming down and the panorama of possibilities in front of us.
[Edited by Judy Youngquest]
16 responses to “Shal of the Trees”
Trackbacks / Pingbacks
- January 25, 2011 -
- August 5, 2011 -
- December 2, 2011 -
- February 3, 2012 -
- April 18, 2012 -
- May 24, 2012 -
- July 20, 2012 -
- September 6, 2012 -
- March 21, 2013 -
- January 12, 2014 -
- February 16, 2014 -
- March 3, 2014 -
- July 18, 2014 -
What a great entry – I really enjoyed reading this. Shal is one of the people I think of when I’m really frustrated with something or if I’m acting very unlike my real self. I try to remember Shal’s patience, Shakti’s work ethic, Caroline’s unstoppable optimism. Doesn’t always work, but when it does . . .
I like picturing you and Shal up in an ironwood. Leaving the ground is sometimes a very good idea.
i love this post pax. not only not it summon up images of you and shal close to my world (far away in miles from yours these days), but it is simply a good piece. And it made me laugh, you two really are so very very different! love from the southern hemisphere, land of very little sleep and apple season