The Practice of Noticing, Part two

There are a few ways of noticing, I think. After last weeks post on noticing I saw some articles on Silent Walking” which is a kind of noticing while walking. You may move around or not and practice noticing.

Noticing can be a short term event. If I take a trip somewhere, I notice things- mostly because they are unusual for me and only for a little while

Then there is the long term noticing that happens when you spend time in one place. This type of noticing allows you to notice how a place changes over time.

Noticing is not necessarily a completely positive or appreciative action. Noticing doesn’t require making a value judgment. You can just simply notice.

Several years ago, I had to have a very large tree taken down because it was unhealthy and a danger to my house. The tree was very large and it made my yard so shady that essentially nothing could grow. But it was home to a lot of birds and squirrels. After the tree was removed it took a while for the birds to return and the squirrels to adjust. Its absence in the yard made moving around in the trees was more difficult for the squirrels. On the other hand from my perspective, there were very few leaves to rake.

I noticed the tree, it was next to impossible not to. I both appreciated and didn’t appreciate that tree. What I did do was notice and accept its presence. The tree’s large size was amazing and frustrating. It was home to many animals and it made my yard too shady for plants to grow. Eventually the birds came back and that I was able to grow native flowers in my much sunnier yard helped. The squirrels figured out new routes. Now that the tree is gone, the trees that were small and shaded by the big tree are able to grow. Some trees grew around the big tree and are still a bit crooked, although they are slowly straightening. The tree almost demanded to be noticed by its presence and also by its absence.

Because of how the tree was positioned in my yard, I was left with a noticeable stump. It’s not attractive. For a few years shoots grew out of it. Even while I recalled Bible verses about a shoot coming from a stump, nevertheless, I cut the shoots off. Eventually the shoots stopped growing and now there is just the stump. I don’t “like” it but I don’t dislike it. It is simply part of the yard. It is one of the things I notice.

This long term noticing in one place did over time teach me some things. Noticing the tree allowed me to accept it without attaching a value to it. The tree simply was.

Big trees are old trees. Its long presence shaped the land around it. Its absence also shapes the land around it. Now sometimes, when I notice its absence, I think about the inevitability of change. I think about how the birds, the squirrels and the plants and even myself were able to adapt and live in both its presence and its absence.