beingblog:

“Intellect, worshipped by all, brings us as far as natural science, and this science, although very great, is incomplete. Redemption from mere nature is the work of feeling and of the awakened eye of the Spirit.

The body, she says, is subject to the force of gravity. But the soul is ruled by levity, pure.”

~Saul Bellow from Him With His Foot in His Mouth: And Other Stories

photo by Sheree Zielke / Flickr, cc by-nc-nd 2.0

This, on a day when I discovered a whole tree bursting with the fuzzy gray heads of “pussy willows.”  Because we are watching our expenses so closely right now, I would only stare longingly and inhale deeply at the fresh flowers in the grocery store as I craved some signs of spring and fresh growth in these still-winter laden days.  Then on my daily pregnancy / Queeda-time walk this afternoon, I encountered three women walking with bunches of pussy willows.  When I asked, they directed me to where to find them - serendipitously just up the road from the hospital we plan to have our baby in come June.  When I found the tree, hippy-me asked for permission to pick a few branches and then thanked the tree when I was done.  Now they are sitting in a beautiful, hand-blown purple vase we got for our wedding this past summer in our living room - with an accompanying bouquet in our bedroom placed in one of the Mason Jars we procured from my Oma grandmother’s dusty garage to use for the wedding flowers.  I didn’t put the branches in water, in hopes they are not too far budded that they will dry in their glorious state, capturing the sheen of an otherwise gray B.C. day.  Feels like life coming full circle, answering a deep longing held off by measured patience.