My Cottonwood Moon

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Hooray.

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Ghia here.

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I'm this week's host of the

creative, spiritual journey

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podcast, where Judy and I talk about

those things that bring us joy.

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For me, I find joy by

connecting with nature.

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Connecting with Jesus Christ in our

heavenly parents, seasonal living

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and all the little bits of magic and

wonder I come across while navigating

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this remarkable journey we call life.

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It's autumn or fall,

whatever you want to call it.

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I love this time of year.

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And one thing I love about it is

that as the nights get longer, I get

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to spend more time with the moon.

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Just for a moment.

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I want to talk about why I've been

watching the moon, why I've been

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trying to create a relationship with

it and why I keep talking about it.

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For me.

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Connecting with all things.

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Nature helps me to know my God.

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And the more I know God,

the more I know myself.

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This also works the other way around.

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Sometimes connecting with nature.

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Teaches me more about myself.

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And then I know more about God.

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Recently I was reading in the

second chapter of third knee fi

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and I came across this verse,

which I want to paraphrase for you.

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It says.

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And the people began to be

less and less astonished at a

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sign or a wonder from heaven.

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And began to disbelieve all

which they had heard and seen.

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I believe There are truly wonders in

the heavens and I believe they are

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happening all the time and I want to

continue to be astonished by them.

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That's my goal and connecting

with nature and the moon.

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So let's talk more about the moon.

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This last several months of watching

and paying more attention to the

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moon has been edifying as well

as a little mystifying for me.

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A few weeks ago.

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I was wondering when I would

catch my first glimpse of the new

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Crescent moon, and I looked for it

several times, but it wasn't there.

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Then one day later while I was out on

a walk, I came around the corner and

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there, it was a glorious Crescent,

just setting behind the cliff.

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And you know how, when you see

the moon close to the earth,

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it looks so much bigger.

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Well, the moon appeared to

be giant, a giant Crescent.

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I only saw it for a few moments before

it was gone, but I was so excited

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that all my fabulous man could do

was roll his eyes as I danced around.

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But it doesn't matter if he

thinks I'm crazy because I

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suppose I am a little crazy.

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I find delight and pleasure in the moon.

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What can I say?

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I feel my God there.

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And the more I connect the closer I feel.

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It's the sense of being grounded

in this life and to the earth

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that makes me feel more like me.

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I learned more about who I am

by knowing God and the moon.

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There is a book I love called the

mirrors in the earth by osseous

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solar with different words.

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I think we're both trying to express the

same sentiment Listen to what she says.

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Before mirrored glass was invented.

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The only way we could glimpse our own

image was through the natural world.

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Calm waters.

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Mica flakes.

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The Onyx in someone else's eyes.

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Though today we have

mirrors, cameras and selfies.

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We still lack the ability

to see who we truly are.

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With nature.

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However, there remains a place

where it's possible to come into

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direct caring contact with our soul.

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We need only to look into the

benevolent mirror of the earth.

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Hmm.

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I love it.

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Now it's already October when

this podcast is coming up.

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But last month I was so busy

talking about other things.

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That I never talked about

the September full moon.

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So I'm going to backtrack just a little.

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About a week after my Crescent moon

experience, the full moon came around.

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This year, the September full

moon was called the harvest moon.

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Each year, the title of harvest

moon is a toss up between the

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September and the October full moon.

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The winner is determined by

whichever moon takes place

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closest to the autumnal Equinox.

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This year, the September

moon, when the title.

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It was also a supermoon

because it occurred along.

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A point in the moon's elliptical orbit.

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When it is closest to the earth.

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Creating the September harvest supermoon.

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And if that wasn't enough,

that same night, there was

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also a partial lunar eclipse.

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I was lucky enough to watch the moon

rise and the eclipse while tatting on the

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phone with my daughter who was watching

the same moon over 300 miles away.

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Hazara.

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It was a magical experience.

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Now, before I share with you, my

choice of names for this amazing moon.

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Let me read some of its traditional names.

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Autumn moon.

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Child moon corn harvest moon.

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Falling leaves, moon mating,

moon Moon of brown leaves.

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Moon when the rice is laid up to dry

reading moon and yellow leaf moon.

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These names made me want

to name my September moon,

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something to do with leaves.

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Perhaps a favorite tree

that was turning color.

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But then I realized there was

something around me that took

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precedent over anything else.

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Something I couldn't ignore.

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Something that brings me great joy.

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Something, I look forward to each fall.

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And that was sunflowers.

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There are wild sunflowers

growing all around my little

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valley and they are so happy.

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No matter the heat of the day or the

cold of the night, they just bloom

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for all their worth shining their

faces at anyone who cares to look.

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When I first moved to our property, there

weren't any sunflowers growing on it.

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So I harvested the seeds from a long,

the road, lower in the valley and planted

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them in various places around my house.

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I don't think any of them came up.

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But over the last two years,

they have started popping up

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in random places on their own.

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I have heard stories about plants

arriving when they were needed.

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So I want to believe these sunflowers

came because they knew I wanted them.

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And I'm so excited because I know

that the more there are this year,

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the more there will be next year.

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And I'm not the only one

who finds joy in sunflowers.

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Apparently Vincent van Gogh found

immense relief and comfort in sunflowers.

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To him, they communicated gratitude.

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And to this day, his series of sunflower

paintings are some of his most famous.

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There is another super impressive

thing about the humble sunflower.

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Turns out.

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They have the ability to

absorb radioactive isotopes.

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Which means that they are useful for

cleaning up nuclear disaster sites.

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This prompted us Russia and the

Ukraine to plant sunflowers during

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the 1996 nuclear disarmament as

a symbol of peace and optimism.

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Isn't that cool.

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What smart little beings sunflowers are.

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So all of these things added

together means that September

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is now my sunflower moon.

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That means.

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That October would have to

be my moon of falling leaves.

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Which seems perfect.

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Because right now, as I sit on my

porch and look out over my little

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valley, the colors are changing and

the view isn't chanting and delightful.

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Have you ever seen the American

folk art of Charles was AUSkey.

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Every year, my mother used to

hang one of his calendars on a

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beautiful antique door in our home.

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His paintings were of rural new England.

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And even though I live in the

Southwest, I see a resemblance.

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And I believe this resemblance

is due to one thing.

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The trees.

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The magical wonder of fall trees.

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I want to share with you an experience.

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I had a few years ago with the tree.

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This tree experienced

started in a yoga class.

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Have you ever seen a tall willowy?

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Almost perfect looking woman and long

to be just a little bit more like her.

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That's what happened to me

right before I met Methuselah.

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Methuselah is the name given to

an old growth Redwood tree, close

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to half moon bay, California.

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And while I personally

see this tree as female.

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The name Methuselah seems very

appropriate because according to

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the old Testament, it belongs to a

man who lived to be 969 years old.

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And this tree is that old.

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If not older.

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It is a magnificent tree.

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You can see the years of life in its bark

and giant limbs and gnarled roots, and

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it has a kind of presence you can feel.

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I loved this tree from the first

time I saw it and I was so excited.

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I wanted to see more like it.

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When I noticed that my map pinpointed

another old growth tree, I was

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eager to see it and set off on

a two mile hike with enthusiasm.

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I can't tell you how disappointed

I was when I got there.

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It was an old growth tree.

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All right.

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It was big.

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But it was perfect.

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It grew straight up.

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There were no bumps or Gnarls.

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No rugged bark, no giant limbs.

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And I thought to myself, I get it now.

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I'm not perfect tall or straight because

I like the gnarled weathered tree better.

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I'm full of texture.

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I'm full of stories.

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You can see them in my face, in the

texture of my hands in my sun spots.

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This is who I am.

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I don't want to be perfect and willowy.

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Not truly anyway.

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So that is one lesson I have learned

from having a relationship with trees.

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Before I move on to a

different tree experience.

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I want to read you another

quote from osseous solar.

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I first read this, I don't

know About a year ago.

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And this paragraph has stayed with me.

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She says, I still remember one tree

in particular, a sprawling middle

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aged maple that had been stunted

from years of climbing students.

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I would sit with this

tree nearly every day.

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Bringing small gifts like feathers I

found or stones shaped like hearts.

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I carried pieces of leather to try to bend

branches that had been broken by climbers.

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When no one was around,

I sang to the tree.

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Then one day I was walking the

familiar trail when I felt a giant

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ball of energy bound down the path

and jumped straight into my chest.

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Like I was catching a puppy in the full

throttle of a happy homecoming greeting.

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The feeling was so visceral, it made

the hairs on the back of my neck.

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Stand up.

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For a split second, I actually

looked around for a dog or a person.

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The energy was that tangible.

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Then I glance down the path

and realized it was the maple.

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My friend knew I was coming and

not only was the tree greeting me.

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It was welcoming me back.

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I felt something inside of me, soften.

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How could I possibly be bad when

I was so loved by this world?

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How could anything or anyone on

this earth be truly bad when this

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world is so miraculously good.

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Oh, I love that.

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I want the energy of a tree

to bound up and greet me.

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I want to be that good

of a friend to a tree.

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Will it ever happen?

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I don't know, I have never

delivered even one gift to a

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tree, let alone done it every day.

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And not to mention so far in my life.

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Anyway, my body hasn't been in

tune with that kind of energy.

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But I want to tell you about another

experience I had recently with a tree.

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This is different than the

Methuselah experience, but similar.

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This was with a tree I walk or

drive past almost every day.

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On Google maps, it is listed as the

largest tree in Utah I love this tree.

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It is a giant Cottonwood.

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Interesting to note that unlike

redwoods, cottonwoods don't generally

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live long, but this one is old.

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Really old, you can tell by looking at it.

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And after I read osseous experience with

her maple, I thought to myself, I'm going

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to make friends with this Cottonwood I'm

maybe someday I will feel its energy.

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Now.

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I have I done much about this

befriending, a tree business.

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Honestly, no.

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I am often so wrapped up in my own

thoughts that I totally forget to even

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acknowledge the tree when I walked past.

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But remember a few minutes ago when

I said that I came around a corner

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and the Crescent moon was there.

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It was a corner, but not a

corner you might be thinking of.

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The road I walked teas or maybe

better to say wise at another road.

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And in order for me to turn right and head

home, I have to go around the Cottonwood.

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Which means that Cottonwood was

part of my experience with the moon.

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It hit the moon until I turned the corner

and could see that Crescent head on.

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The Cottonwood played in the drama.

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I know it's just a tree.

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Nothing was done with intention.

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But deep down in the center

of that trees, belly.

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I love to believe it was aware of what

was playing out between me and the moon.

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And I believe this simply

because it delights my fancy.

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So that's one story with this tree.

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Let me share another one.

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A few days after seeing the Crescent.

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I was walking down the same road

towards the Cottonwood, and I saw an

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older woman jump out of her truck.

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And with her hand on the

trunk of the tree, She posed.

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So her husband could take a picture.

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Then she went and sat on a little bench.

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Someone has placed at the base

of the tree and posed again.

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As I got closer, she said to

me, Isn't this a beautiful tree.

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Now I'm not always very

talkative with strangers.

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And could have happily

smiled and nodded my head.

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But instead I found myself saying.

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Yes.

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It's age beautifully.

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Just like the two of us.

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Her face lit up with a smile,

giving me the impression I had said

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just what she was needing to hear.

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And when I looked at her

husband, he gave me a thumbs up.

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The woman got in her truck.

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And I continued on my walk.

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And, you know, what.

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That Cottonwood stayed right where it was.

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But I believe deep down

in it's belly, it said.

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Yes.

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We are beautiful.

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Aren't we.

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So there you have it.

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From now on.

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Well, until I changed my mind, that is.

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The October moon will

be my Cottonwood moon.

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Duty, and I know your time is precious

and that you have many choices.

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We love that you have chosen to

walk with us for a few minutes.

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As we talk about the joy we have

found along this journey of life.

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If you liked this podcast, thank

you for sharing it with a friend.

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I don't know anyone that wouldn't

benefit from having a relationship

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with a sunflower at tree.

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Or the moon.

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Nama stay.