Blaylock's Big Tree

DREAM OF THE DAY: My back does not hurt. My teeth are sparkling white. My vision is 20/20 without glasses. Hair has stopped growing everywhere except on my head. My chin does not resemble Jay Leno's. My nose does not look like it came from some other gene pool.
There are not excessive fat cells hanging out inside me collecting and storing every carbohydrate that I consume. Oh, and I am not pre-menopausal.

THE TREE: Remember that huge oak tree down in the Blaylock pasture behind Ganmommy and Gandaddy's house? The one that has a limb about twice as big around as a old-fashioned wood telephone pole, and reached down to about 3 feet above the ground. It must have extended 20 feet from the tree trunk and had a dipped-out place in the middle that was warn where people sat in the same spot for years. Whenever I was worried, upset, confused about life, or just wanted to reflect on life, I would climb over the fence using the steps that Gandaddy built, and walk down the pasture to the big tree. I wish I had named that tree something worthy. Time stood still while Big Tree held me in his hand and I felt safe. On every occassion I got some comfort there while just sitting and thinking - or not thinking - in my quiet, secret place. I only ever took one other person there with me, and to this day I wish that I hadn't. Some places are not meant to be shared. What I know for sure is that the secret place moves with me wherever I am. It never looks the same from one location to another but it functions the same. I like this rural life where I am because it offers more opportunity for quiet time to find one's secret place.