The Birthday Tree

The other day, I was flipping through a local Ubud info mag, when I came across the listing of auspicious days for July. The only spiritually-advised and approved auspicious activity for today was planting a (fruit) tree.

A memory from my distant youth spontaneously popped into my mind; to mark the occasion of my older sister’s birth, a tree was planted in our great-aunt’s garden, right outside her kitchen window. Or perhaps I should say that the germ of a tree, a mere sapling was pushed into the ground and began its life on the same day that OJ began hers… a mere fifty years ago.

Dear OJ, may you continue to be nourished and grow your limbs in all directions; and may you continue to reach and grow from each branch a multitude of leaves – of life, love, yoga, dance, friends, family and more – just like your birth-day tree has borne fruit (or flowers?).

Auspicious then, auspicious now.

In honor of this momentous day, and with deep gratitude for your decades-long friendship & sisterhood, I plant a little tree for you in the garden of my heart…