Winter Wonder: Debra’s Forest 2024
February 27, 2024
The stoic, barren presence of the Winter Forest presents a unique opportunity for admiration and reflection. The trees stand tall with dignity. Though leafless, they accept nothing and reject nothing. They are bound to the earth, and their presence is a metaphor for stillness and peace. Sooner or later, they will succumb to the cycle of life and death and will pass away, but it is during the Winter season that the trees show their resilience and their strength….by simply being.
Each day I walk among the quietude of the Winter tree canopy. My feet have worn a path upon the fallen leaves. The sound of the crumbling leaf structures is wonderful. The leaves return to the earth as a blessing to the soil. The soil is the floor upon which the forest emerges triumphant! It is during the Winter season that I appreciate most the benefit of my daily walks. Walking: it is a simple exercise from which I gain the simple pleasures of quietude and grace. The forest benefits from my gentle impact. Like the footsteps of a deer or the scurrying footprints of a hundred squirrels, may my impact support the natural order of an infrastructure that has been in place for hundreds (if not thousands) of years before I existed.
The Winter Forest is a magic show. It’s native plants and leaf structures have disappeared, only to reappear in a sequential dance that has gone on for millennia. With me or without me, the forest–even in its Winter slumber is already fulfilled. Within the code of its DNA is the spark of creation. When the cosmic signal is rendered, the Winter Forest is duty bound for creativity and growth. Each season it slumbers, and each season it reawakens. It lets me know that the world is a continuum–it is everlasting. Like the Winter Forest, the world’s potential for peace and stability is possible.
Debra’s Forest:
“This small plot of earth expands my awareness and understanding, especially during the winter season.”
— Debra B. Pearson
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Debra B. Pearson, PhD, stewards a 1-acre native forest and bio-reserve at her home near College Park, Georgia. She is recently retired from a 30-year Language Arts class room teaching career in Atlanta Public Schools, predominantly Frederick Douglass High School. She is also an EcoAddendum Board Member since 2016.
Dr. Debra Pearson, affectionately called Debbie, has been a dear friend for many years. In the ’70’s I watched her grace the runway as a beautiful high fashion model. We both were high school teachers and shared interest in meditation, Yoga, physical fitness and spirituality. I’ve always admired her appreciation for nature, vegetarian diet and minimalist life style. I was invited to walk through Debra’s Forest with friends and it’s beauty “took my breath away!” Her artistry and loving care is obviously embraced by all life living there: trees, plants, insects, animals, rocks, air, etc. A Forest Paradise created by Debbie in her own back yard! I’m certain forest spirits speaks to her in their own special way.