Oil on canvas  24″ x 18″

Grandfather Stump

Look at this gentle giant,

dead a hundred years ago or more

and still commanding such presence.

Ancient Cedar,

my Grandfather tree;

I often sit with him

and feel his calm wise influence.

Burnt and toppled,

worn away and hollowed out,

home to mosses and lichens,

fodder for woodpeckers . . . 

so many stories to tell.

First happening upon this enchanted clearing

where he stands,

guardian,

a tangible hush descended as I entered.

There were scratchings on the forest floor all ’round

and I sensed wolf

(can you find the wolf hidden in plain sight in the painitng?)

I had recently had an encounter with a lone wolf

not too far from this place,

when one burst from hiding in dense underbrush

and chased my dog all the way home,

leaving me standing with my mouth hanging open

and my heart pounding!

~

~Barbara Brown, from upcoming Volume II, SYLVAN REFLECTIONS book