Changing places

In the thick of winter, I’ve brought pussy willow into the warmth of my home to watch it grow so I could pretend spring is immanent. And here, just off Meadow Road, a glorious stand of  pussy willow begins its journey into spring and onward toward summer. Somehow I was surprised to see this here. I’ve so associated these comfortable, optimistic plants with my indoor winter experience that seeing it in its more common, natural habitat surprised me. 

I guess it’s a habit of seeing what I know, what I come to expect, rather than understand a perspective different from our expectation. It’s useful to bump up against that unspoken, limited reaction. It creates the possibility of new ways of seeing.