Outside it’s drizzling that ‘just above freezing’ damp, bone-chilling cold that I find particularly horrible. My dreams of a white Christmas went unanswered this year and maybe that’s a perfect ending to a particularly difficult year for both our country and for the world.

I’ve tried reminding myself how badly we need rain here in Eastern Washington. Nice try, but the truth is, its yucky outside and no amount of pasted-on optimism is going to change that.

On this mostly disagreeable afternoon my dog Zoe and I went for our daily walk through our little woods. There’s a certain place where 12 old Ponderosa pines line up to form a lengthy, lazy semi-circle. Feels like a cathedral where I often stop and pay my respects. 

While Zoe chewed on some fresh green grass … (Yes, there is fresh green grass growing in the latter part of December. Go figure!) … She chewed and I let my thoughts wander among the branches seeking something that I couldn’t quite define. 

Like the gentle rain falling on my head, so did the quietest little notion fall upon my thoughts. “Look up … “ 

Our farm is situated on a hillside, a very uneven, rocky hillside. This makes for interesting views and artful natural statues at every turn. It also makes for some treacherous walking if you’re not constantly looking down at the ground in front of you. At times I feel like a bug wandering around in the dirt at the base of the giants in the forest. 

Being of a certain age does make caution important, but I was standing still and so I did look up. 

I usually learn something from changing my perspective and his day was no different. I was spellbound by what I routinely neglect to see … Every branch almost comically tufted with spiky balls of deep green needles. The exquisite frame they place around an otherwise ho-hum cloudy gray sky. And there was more …

Trees exist simultaneously in the magical paradox of heaven and earth, feet firmly rooted in the ground while continually reaching for the sky … They grow stronger with every passing year without relinquishing the necessary flexibility to withstand even the strongest of winds, a heart-stopping spectacle for anyone witnessing these massive trunks swaying wildly on a stormy day.

Trees are generous with themselves; offering cooling shade in the heat of summer, nourishment and housing to a multitude of insects, mammals and birds while enriching the soil at their feet and cleansing the very air we breathe … And, of course the most obvious: trees are a thing of beauty.

Even though tiny streams of rain were cascading down my face I probably would be standing there still if my neck could have stood the strain. 

The message was clear … “Stay firmly rooted to that which gives you nourishment and do not become brittle, hardened in thought and deed … Inevitable storms and winds of change will blow all around you, cultivate an open mind, a willing spirit … Be generous with yourself, and thereby be a breath of fresh air into the world … And, always, always seek higher ground. Look up.”

It’s mere days away to a new year. I know January 1st is really just another day as 2026 replaces last year’s calendar on the wall. Maybe this is a year to reacher higher, be a better me. Maybe you will do that too.