Druidry and the Ancestors by Nimue Brown reminds of us our roots. Wherever we live, this ground we walk upon has been walked on by humans and animals for centuries, for millenia. We are just one link in the chain. And we have a long chain of genetic ancestors -- 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, 16 great great grandparents, and so on back for millenia, except that not all are unique -- when distant cousins marry, they have some common ancestors.
And my life is itself a chain in time. From the present, my life stretches back to the past. Living around here the past 20 years, discovering scenic areas around here, learning to rollerblade, being unemployed. Before that, living in the suburb of a big city while going to grad school. Walking a half hour to school. Walking to grocery shopping, hauling groceries in a backpack, taking the train to my internships, living in a basement apartment, choosing the basement because I can dance around, stomping on the floor all I want, without disturbing anyone below. Before that, living in the suburbs of a different big city, working a boring job in the big city, taking aerobics class, walking to visit my boyfriend, discovering the parks. Before that, college, a community, a circle of friends, a place where I belonged. Before that, growing up, my hometown, a misfit at school, some friends at school, vacations in more rural, rugged places, hippie parents who listened to Donovan, a rock band at my father's commune, playing on a homemade see-saw, getting a "swinging ladder" for the swing set, dressing up like a nurse.
And from the present, the future stretches wide before me. An unwritten story. An unforged trail. It could lead anywhere. We never know what's around the bend. We don't know what we will find, but when we find it, we choose what course to take.
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