I thought I’d post this as a short blog after having posted it on social media because it’s special to our hearts. The photo you see here is one that our friend, Seba Johnson (history making Olympian as the first African American woman to ski in the Olympics and youngest alpine ski racer at age 14, vegan since birth, actor, speaker, and simply loving soul), captured a couple of days ago on one of the hikes we’ve shared with her since meeting and spending time with her while she’s here in her childhood home of Lake Tahoe working on her memoirs.

This is a very meaningful tree to us. During the winter Dave and I would snow shoe here and this little tree, now about 3-4 feet taller, used to get plummeted by snow and the wind from the slope it lives on at the bottom, completely bending it over to the ground with the weight.

We would free him and dig him out every time we’d pass after a snow storm, so that he had a chance and wasn’t permanently bent. We’d do it to other trees too, but this one in particular would get hit the hardest and became connected to us.

Seba (pictured above with me on our 7.4 mile, 1200 feet climb Tahoe Rim Trail hike) thought it would be a cool idea to take photos of us with him over time to see his progress. As you can see he’s pretty straight even though at a slight angle, but doing well! During winter this was not the case and we wondered how he’d fare, as he was completely bowing to the ground.

Other large trees above him haven’t been so lucky and really are curved, twisted, warped, and likely will fall at some point. This little one was born in a challenging spot, but it is just those challenges that make you stronger and provide even more to share with others.

Life is definitely an adventure and often times a challenging journey.

Every little thing we do, DOES make a difference, even if you can’t see it right now or are provided immediate feedback and affirmation of it. You simply need to follow your heart, regardless of any reward, knowing it’s just about being in your highest essence in each moment and being in that unconditional universal love as much as possible.

We’re grateful for the time we’ve spent with Seba, her sweet dog companions Braddock and Langston, and being able to share some special places to our hearts with her, and so many synchronicities we share including living in the same place she used to (her condo is just below ours) where she spent her childhood and ski training days.

As an animal activist and vegan all of her life, enjoying the magickal and synchronous signs, honoring of Nature and Earth, our being just 2 and a half months apart in age, all adoring Lake Tahoe as our home and special portal space (she plans to live here again too), and both currently writing books, we had a lot of beautiful connections that will be lovely to keep touching in on, which now will include the growth and life of our special tree that will mirror the life shifts we all go through.

He already mirrors the challenges we’ve each been faced with and now will reflect what we embrace, nurture, and embody to bring forth for the rest of our lives.

We’re grateful for the time we’ve been able to share with our new friend Seba and for the journey that continues to provide rich experiences and beautiful surprises around each corner.

I look forward to seeing how our journeys evolve from here, and how our beloved tree will experience his own growth and evolution. We’ll be sure to nurture him, as long as we are here and as much as he nurtures us and all of life that depends on him and Nature.

(Photos courtesy of Seba Johnson)