A Short Row of Sugar Maples A Month after Helene
A Short Row of Sugar Maples A Month after Helene
And a Brief Interlude of Images
Dear Friends and Family,
A month has passed since Helene’s catastrophic sweep across Southern Appalachia. To mark the day, I took a long walk late afternoon. The sun shone slant through a short row of sugar maples strangely spared the twists of wind, leaves hanging low like fruit heavy before the fall. Beneath my feet, the every autumn rustle of drying leaves, fragrant.
I could layer meaning onto the moment. I could further word it. But the words that come are, be still.
I have shared in weeks past that the very real human impulse is to give word to what has no words or words not yet. The phenomenologist in me keeps refusing the impulse, refuses today even journal entries and description, and for today stays as close as can be to the flesh of that walk, believing the lived world of one is on a primordial level the lived world of us all, and if this is so, together we come to what matters of a moment by living with and through this living world.
And so, today, what comes are a few pictures and two words, be still.
Ever in gratitude and with love,
Renée
To support post-Helene recovery efforts, visit Beloved Asheville.
To make a one-time donation to Beyond the Comfort Zone, you can “Buy Me A Coffee.”
Forthcoming
Today, 12–12:15 pm ET: Vigil in Silence
Please join me and a growing group of you across North America and Europe in a vigil in Silence on behalf of all beings who are suffering or in sorrow in these times, times that call for “‘Mystical Courage’, a hope and strength emerging from beyond our own making.”
(This is not a Zoom gathering but silent vigil wherever you are.)
I will light a candle before the hour and invite the sound of the singing bowl at noon to open our circle and again at 12:15 to close our circle.
If you join in Silence today, please do let me know by email: reneeeliphd@gmail.com or DM me here on Substack.
Sunday, November 3, 12 – 1:30 pm ET: Zoom Gathering in Silence with Reflective Conversation to Follow
All are welcome. Email me (reneeeliphd@gmail.com) with questions, to register, and receive the Zoom link.
December 4–8, In-Person Retreat
Entering Unknowing: Inner Pilgrimage for a Time between Worlds
Valle Crucis Retreat Center, Banner Elk, NC
A few spots remain open for this intimate gathering and shared exploration.
Email me or Doreen, Retreat Coordinator, for more information and to register. tanenbaumd@gmail.com
It's overwhelming to see in your photos how beautiful the world still is.
The images are splendid, as are your few sentences. I find elegance in the linguistic economy with which you write. I'm always amazed by how much you say in such few words. Thank you, dear Renée.