Branch To Branch

foto: johnscutter.com

An orangutan swung in the trees, going branch to branch and always landing firmly in the sanctuary of its leaves and cover overhead. And yet he wasn’t sure if the tree he landed in was right for him, and so he kept moving. Only, every once in awhile, he looked back and thought that, with more patience and insight, he might have been very happy indeed in the places he had been and so hastily left. But what now? The whole jungle was around him, ahead and behind and off to each side, and he still wasn’t happy where he was currently sitting, fidgeting around and not at peace. But a few trees came to mind, and he wasn’t sure the route to get back there, and so he sat. For a very long time. In the meantime, he went to the forest floor for food now and then, or visited bushes close by, and talked to the insects that crawled by innocently and weren’t a threat or any interest to him other than for conversation, and he looked around in wonder, wondering how he got there. Until he got older and thought it was time to see if happiness was where he thought he left it. A juvenile thought, not one for a sage of his years. And it started to rain. Only then did he see that it rained everywhere he could see, not only where he was. And when the sun came out, the same was true. And the bird songs came from all directions, just like the harrowing sounds of roars and thunder. And he decided to stay. He wasn’t sure how long, but in happiness regardless, because he really wasn’t unhappy and it really did offer him shelter and grace. Now knowing that joy was his decision seemed to make it even more like home.