Two Very Similar Leaves

I joined a community Facebook group called Heartventures and today the group admin asked us to share a photo we had taken that makes us feel calm, alive, or connected.

I almost dismissed the prompt because I have felt non of those things for kind of a while. In fact, I almost considered deleting this blog the other day because I wasn’t feeling like I was living the mission of it, and was feeling very disconnected from my own authentic self.

But, something triggered me to look at my camera roll and try to participate in the group chat with a photo. And I was reminded of the most beautiful day.  And also reminded of my authentic self in the process.

I have been visiting the sweetest apple farm in Berwick for a few years now and have come to know the owner, Marlene, who is the most lovely, warm human and remembers things about me when I visit which leave me departing asking myself…how on earth does she so easily remember me and these things?!

One warm and sunny mid- September day while I was standing inside her farmstand catching up and picking out the apples I came to buy, I picked up one of the pears in a basket that was for sale and said something like – “isn’t this the most beautiful pear?”  With absolute genuine enthusiasm I continued… “isn’t it just so incredible that something so beautiful can grow from a seed and look so absolutely perfect with its different shades of yellow, and its beautiful soft speckles?”  In some instances, I might share a sentiment like this and it would either be kindly dismissed or simply and truthfully just over someone’s head.  But Marlene looked directly into my eyes and said, “I know! Hold on a second”. 

She left to enter the back room of her little farmstand shop, which is connected to the storage area for all of their delicious harvested apple varieties, and returned with a small yellow pear.

She told me she had kept it from the basket because it was just too beautiful to part with.  Its leaves were still attached which she said is what made it most special.  And I felt like Anne Shirely when she met Diana Barry, because I always pick the bulk mandarins at the grocery store that have the leaves still attached, just so I can see them in my fruit bowl for a while before I eat them.  They are so simplistic but also so complex and intricate, with their curves and lines and the pattern of the tiny vines.

Marlene handed it over to me.  She trusted me with this beautiful pear that she knew I would photograph and appreciate as much as she did, and that was the most amazing honor.  And a moment that carried me through that week if I am honest.  I don’t think I have ever been as careful transporting something home before as I was with that pear that day.

While I waited at home for the just-right light to shine on both the leaves and the pear so I could photograph it, the light was never exactly perfect while the pear was still not too ripe, but the leaves always were.

I am going to share the photo, which I am calling “Two Very Similar Leaves” in the Heartventures group chat because it truly is a photo that for me represents feeling calm, alive and connected. And, perhaps it will represent that for anyone reading this too.

I feel like I have a complicated brain and I sometimes struggle to leave my safe space in my house and attempt to feel connected with others. To be honest, I feel it is hard to connect with my own self at times. Can anyone relate?   I have amazing people in my life who I am so thankful for connections with, but if you get too far into your head, connecting on a deep level with people in general can feel like the most difficult thing.  It can also be the very easiest thing if say, beautiful pear leaves are involved. This is my (and your) reminder to be more aware of times when connection is easier than we give it credit for, and a reminder for me to take my own advice like I wrote about HERE back in 2023.

Thank you Heartventures for the prompt.  And thank you Marlene at Apple Lane Farm for being a kindred spirit.

Do you have a story about a time when you felt connected?  I hope this one prompts you to remember it.

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