The Ambiguous Tree

As my husband and I lie in bed on a cold winter evening, 

We hear the sound of sleet hitting the ground.

The next morning we awaken to view a tree in our backyard that is covered with a glaze of ice.

The limbs of the tree shine and glitter in the cold.

But warming soon sets in, and drops begin to fall from the tree’s limbs as the ice starts to melt.

It is a spectacular sight: the tree seems to be crying and lamenting or raining wholesome water on the flower bed around it.

Which is it?

A lament or a nourishing presence?

Well, do you like your coffee cup in the morning half-full or half-empty?

Sometimes it is our perceptions that define the world.

And perhaps the tree is doing both simultaneously.

Grief sometimes brings great spiritual health, so  may the tree’s tears bring great fecundity to the earth.