A LITTLE GREEN STICK....

In November 1910 and at the age of 82, Leo Tolstoy went “on the run”. He was running from his wife, his wider life, the state, religion and all the hangers-on who crowded around him. (I know exactly how he felt!). He went to Yasnaya Polyana (Bright Glade) and stayed there for the rest of his life – and was eventually buried there, within sight of his house. Tolstoy was buried in this place almost as if his whole life took him to this end-place, a sort of ‘green dream’ about why he wanted to end up where he did. 

He tells the story of himself (at the age of 5) and his brother Nikolay (aged 10). Nikolay told Leo he had discovered the secret of happiness and that it was written on a little green stick, hidden somewhere in the woods behind their home. When the stick was found, and its words read, all the world would turn loving and be at peace.

It isn’t clear from his writings that the stick was a painted piece of wood or a leafing bough but whatever it was, when taken back into the ground it offered an endlessly renewable and happy life.

I would like to think of it as a leafing bough; the leaves broad and stable and offering comfort not only to humans but also to nature.

Thus, the photograph… the Speckled Wood butterfly I caught on camera earlier this summer seems to be at peace as it sits enjoying warmth from the sun.

 But enough dreaming; if there is a little green stick, my belief is that it is extremely well hidden and who knows whether it will ever be found…..

 Until next time (and always looking and hoping….),

 Peripatetic Scribe