Watching the Fig Tree



I read a book once called "Watching the Tree" by Adeline Yen Mah.

In it she recounted this story told to her by her Buddhist grandfather:

            Once there was a boy who was told by his master to catch a hare.

He went into the woods and looked around ... .

At that very moment, he saw a hare running along at full speed.

As he watched in astonishment,

the hare ran smack into the tree and knocked itself unconscious.

All he had to do was to pick it up.

For the rest of his life, the boy waited behind the same tree

in the hope that more hares would do the same thing. 

Although I understand the moral,

that people often spend their lives "watching the tree,"

expecting that conditions will always be the same,

the story also made me think that it would be fun

to closely observe a tree as it goes through its seasons.

So I chose a tree to watch, a fig tree that grows at the edge of our woods.

I am hoping I will find the unique as it unfolds in the familiar

--but I'll try not to expect it.

This is the fig tree I will be watching.

Look for future blogs about Watching the Fig Tree :-)

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