Bythewood. That is the last name of my best friend since childhood. I am from East Texas, and she did live by the woods. I spent so much time at her house that her mother called me “her fourth daughter.” I loved that place. We played in the woods of the tall pine trees, watched fireflies at night, rescued birds with broken wings. The canal was another favorite of ours; we walked the edge, watching the water for fish and turtles.
Nature connects. It connects us to a deeper part of ourselves and forms a connection for lifelong friendships.
My grandmother loved nature. Her family were early East Texas settlers; farmers, “planters” as they say in the south. I am convinced that I share her love of plants through our shared DNA. She had a beautiful yard with a giant pecan tree that I would sit under when I went to visit. She had a green thumb and loved flowers; her yard was a mass of them. I never see a peony without thinking of my grandmother, or her mother also for that matter; they are pass along plants.
Nature connects. It joins us to your ancestors.
Early in our marriage, my husband and I knew that we did not want to live in a usual subdivision so we looked for land where we could build our home with nature surrounding us. We did that 31 years ago. When we have “first time” visitors the common remark is “wow, you live in a park!” There is a lot of truth to that. We are surrounded by an abundance of trees and native shrubs. There is a creek at the bottom of the property that is fed by springs during wet years. Critters come calling at night, birds build nests all around us, deer and fox grow up here, have babies here, and the cycle continues. It is my happy place.
Nature connects. In it we find rhythms of time and being. There is nowhere I would rather be.
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