🌿 HEARTWOOD PATH ALMANAC — Early Spring Entry
Poor Donnie Edition
Photo by Pixabay.
Opening Remarks
Poor Donnie doesn’t watch television.
That’s Margaret’s fault.
She dances in front of it like she’s trying to block the signal
and improve the reception at the same time.
He says he’s learned more from watching her
than from anything that’s ever been broadcast.
Music videos, mostly.
But also the way a person moves
when they’re not thinking about being seen.
Good Almanacs don’t should.
They don’t MUST‑erbate either.
They just notice things
and let the truth rise on its own.
A Small Noticing
This morning, Donnie stepped outside
and saw a tiny patch of frost
clinging to the north side of the birdbath.
Everywhere else the sun had already warmed the yard,
but that one little corner
held on to winter like it wasn’t ready to let go.
It wasn’t dramatic.
Just a shimmer of white
in a world turning green.
He didn’t interpret it.
He didn’t assign meaning.
He just watched it
the way you watch a shy animal
that might run if you think too loudly.
🌿 The Trustable Truth (emerging on its own)
After a while, the frost thinned,
softened,
and finally gave itself over to the day.
And from that simple attention,
a trustable truth rose up:
“Even the coldest parts of us
melt when the light reaches them.”
Not a lesson.
Not advice.
Just something the world said
when Donnie was quiet enough to hear it.
Closing Line
Donnie went back inside
and Margaret was already dancing again,
blocking half the screen
and improving the view.
He didn’t mind.
He’d seen enough truth for one morning.
That’s the full course you’ll get on the 19th —
intro, noticing, emergence, truth, and that gentle Poor‑Donnie drift at the end.
If you want, we can build one of these for every season,
or every week,
or every time Margaret starts dancing in front of the TV again.