Shadows of blue caught my eye. It wasn't the old oak, but it's shadows that made me stop to admire the beauty cast on the sunlit snow.That old burr oak at the Arboretum is a gnarly tree. One that I've pointed to many times while teaching kids how to distinguish a maple during this, the sugaring season.
The tree was different this day though. While it has stood steadfast all these years, it wasn't the oak that I paused to revere. It's twisted branches of old age scattered beauty from its heart outward over the snow. Just as we should radiate God's gift of this day out to others.
I read something recently that stated it is the space in between the logs of a fire that allow the flames to breathe and grow. Perhaps the same is true for the shadows of the old oak and for us.
Blue, diffused over a fresh white canvas caused me to still myself, if just for a few moments, to breathe in the last of the winter's air and then, exhale.
