Funny the things you’ll notice all of a sudden sometimes. Things you’d swear were never there. But they were, had been. Perhaps for a long time even.

Like this dead tree I chanced upon today Despite coming here 2-3 times a week walking right by it, maybe just a mere 200 or 300 feet away from it. Never saw it. Never noticed it before.

But every once in a while, your mind stills enough. Quiets down just enough to see something new. Something new that was always there. Today it was this dead tree.

So, I stilled myself even further and wondered what killed this tree. Why this tree? why not the others? In the distance, I saw another similar tree, much smaller but dead too. Something did them in, an infection or parasite or something.

I don’t really know the answer. For that I’d have to do much more research than a cursory look and a couple of photos on my phone.

Do I have a point? Not really. Suffice to say, I noticed it. I acknowledged it. In that moment, my mind stilled enough to actually see, to be outside my mind. And that’s good enough.