Inspiring video “Hey Jerrie” exploded on Youtube. 91-year-old drummer on oxygen tank surprised more than fifty thousand people. You could see, obviously she is happy and empowered with her lifetime love to music. If she would be my grandma, I’ll  set up her studio  in an emerald green forest. From the forest she’ll get all natural oxygen that she and all humans need to survive.  Nature generously supplies us with the oxygen, gives us energy, and helps us to feel energized and rejuvenated. Jerrie reminded me one lady who comes from the same amazing generation.

“In addition to Robert Frost, Henry David Thoreau, and John Muir, many others have penned their reverence for nature. In 1913, poet Joyce Kilmer graciously wrote of his love and admiration for powerful creations of nature in his beautiful poem Trees. He compared tree with a poem and desribed that a tree “looks at God all day and lifts her leafy arms to pray.”  I wonder, if it is a coincidence between this poem and a story in prose once told me by Marion, a good and wise friend and neighbor? Marion is 86 years old. She is still a very beautiful, statuesque lady and carries herself with great dignity. I call her “My Victorian Lady.” You will not meet this special breed very often today.

                                        When Marion was born in 1923 on a pictoresque farm in Pennsylvania, her parents planted a small sugar maple near their farm house to celebrate her birthday. So, Marion and Sugar, her tree-friend, grew up together. Marion played near her maple. She liked to stroke the smooth grey-brown bark that covered the trunk. She often hugged her tree and shared secret thoughts with it. 

One day, while Marion watched her mother tap the sap from the sugar maple and make her delicious maple syrup, she thought it must be painful for the tree to give all she had–her vital juices.       She felt so sorry for her friend. She hugged her tree with all her heart and asked her how she was feeling and what she could do for her. The sun shone through the bright green leaves at the top of the tree. Pale green leaves below shimmered with a satin finish sparkle reminiscent of invisible silver stars in the sky that sometimes can be seen in the daylight. The sugar maple stood like a pretty woman, lifting her strong leafy arms to the sky. Her leaves trembled slightly in unison with the wind.  Then Marion heard a quiet, tender murmur. Her tree-friend was sending back to her all she had to give, her positive energy and strength..”                                                       Valentine’s Day is upon us. Good health, happiness, blue sky,  beautiful flowers, great fun and friendly smiles to all of you!

Copyright 2009

Source: 2009 Mom’s Choice Gold Recipient, Mama’s Home Remedies:Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Living by Svetlana Konnikova MA, AN Foreword by Anna Maria Clement PhD, NMD, Codirector and Chief Health Administrator of Hippocrates Health Institute, Chapter 12, page 247

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Photos: “Maple Tree in the fall” by Bill Walker; “Maple Sap” by Wooliedales/Flickr; “Maple Pot” by Paul Moody/Flickr; “Maple Leaf” by Petr Kratochvil