January 2006

9 January 2006 -- Western Oregon

The new year rushes in on a flood of precipitation--stream banks
breeched and gullies raging. Above the water, high winds add an
arborist's touch to the renewal. Weak and broken branches litter the
ground; their disappearance shedding light on once darkened spaces.

Safe inside, we celebrate our cultural New Year and welcome another
chance to set goals, establish habits, reach for new dreams.
Outside, nature continues to write its own resolutions. High water
scours new pathways for spring snow melt, breaks old beaver dams to
flush young salmon out to sea, and starts succession of a lowland
forest anew.

And like our own annual promises, nature's resolutions are
ephemeral. High wind pruning of campus trees is quickly cleared by
active grounds staff; fresh herbaceous growth soon conceals old
stream channels. From afar nothing is new and from near nothing is old.

But also like our own annual promises, the mere existence of these
happenings yields growth. Whether large or small, short-lived or
long, the seeds of change have been planted and a new year has begun.

Welcome to a new day, a new week, a new quarter, and a new year.