When I see a damaged tree and wince, I wonder: “Is the wince for the tree, or me?”

Tree on Independence Drive, 2.11.2009

We humans can anthropomorphize non-animal living things as well as we can our cats and dogs. How we think our non-human friends “feel” — hurt, friendly, neglected, strong, territorial, open — says a lot about how we feel, at a conscious or unconscious level.

Although me, wounded? I’ll have to think about that.

Fresh, 2.11.2009

If so, it’s not just me. We all are hurting somehow: the secret wounds, the visible ones.