The Apple Tree

My first conscious memory of life was around 4 years old. My mother had left my father and we moved from Texas to Vermont to live with my grandparents. I was born in Vermont so it was a homecoming to the land of my arrival. I have some very vivid images that have stayed with me. My Papa created a tire swing for me securely held by a rope tied to an apple tree that I must have spent countless hours swinging and daydreaming.
I remember feeling a strong connection with nature and with Spirit. I would often hear messages in the wind that made music with the leaves. I would connect with the birds that would fly by or land near me to share a sound or a message. I would see refections in the clouds as I would lean my little body back to face the sun and try swing faster to reach the sky. I was born to fly, but I did not know how. I was a child of the earth yet I came from the stars. What was I doing here? The message soon came.
As I reflect on the symbolism, the rope reminds me of being bound to our memories, the connection of all things. Like an umbilical cord from the mother to the child, it may be cut, disappear and dissolve but we are forever bound. The tree represents the Tree of Life offering all that we need is found in nature. The apple represents wisdom, knowledge and nourishment.



The seed of the apple creates new life, just like the seed of thoughts and images in our mind can create a new reality for us. Swinging on the tire reminds me of freedom and flight and how life is an experience of the extreme sides of polarity, different perspectives and then returning to the center where there is peace, stillness and the unification of the heart and mind.