Farewell to a much loved snag, hello to a new log

Back in September 2019 I took the photo above of a lovely willow snag at the Grantchester end of Grantchester meadows. I always enjoyed its presence and gnarly form and, over the years, I’ve taken many photos of it. However, none (to my eye, anyway) have been better than this one taken in the early autumn. 

But, in my last post, you’ll have seen a set of photos from a walk on Tuesday to Grantchester across Grantchester Meadows, which included the photo below of the same snag, albeit from the opposite direction. It’s tempting to be sad about losing a much loved and beautiful snag but, of course, its journey from seed, to tree, to snag and to log is simply (or is it complexly!) part of the beautiful process of nature naturing (natura naturans), a process that will outlast the final disappearance of this log (and, indeed, me) into God-or-Nature (deus sive natura) — or, in Konkokyo’s terms, Tenchi kane no kami). And so, to continue my Konkokyo inspired reflections from Wednesday, I’ll simply conclude with some words by Sato Norio,

 “Whether you are living or dead, Heaven and Earth [the universe] will always be your home” (GI: Sato Norio, 21:20).