The Willow Tree
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If you're listening, you know self-care is vital for overall wellness, but it can be hard to prioritize yourself and ask for what you need. If you're a veteran going through a tough time, there are people who want to listen and help with no pressure or judgment. Dial 988, then press 1. Chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net.

or text 838255 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line. Responders are ready to support you, no matter what you're going through. Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I create everything you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.

We give to a different charity each week, and this week we are giving to a Home for Hooves Sanctuary. They offer a forever home for rescued farmed animals. You can learn more about them in our show notes. If you are looking for more ways to invite coziness into your life, we have some ideas for that. We just put together a coloring pack.

with a Nothing Much Happens mini coloring book, colored pencils, and a downloadable exclusive story. It's such a nice gift. We also have our signature Bob Wittersheim t-shirt, our weighted pillow and wind-down box, our premium subscriptions and autographed books. It's all at nothingmuchappens.com. Now, I've made a place for you to rest your mind.

A very simple story to pull around you like a warm blanket. All you need to do is listen. I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through. If you wake later in the night, don't hesitate to turn an episode back on, or just think through any parts of the story that you can remember, and you'll drop right back off. Our story tonight is called...

The Willow Tree, and it's a story about the first signs of spring on an open field beside a lake. It's also about stepping stones, a bench up high on a bluff, geese paddling at the shore, tall rubber boots, a breeze that blows the hat from your head, and the calm quiet that comes when you stop chasing some other moment.

and make a home in this one. It's time. Turn off the light. Put down anything you've been looking at or working on. Slide down into your sheets and get the right pillow in the right spot and feel your whole body relax. Take a deep breath in through your nose and sigh from your mouth. Nice. Again, inhale and release it. Good.

the willow tree. It isn't just that the willow is the first tree each spring to sprout leaves, though that is certainly a glimmer I go looking for each year, to see the light yellow haze, like a flaxen fog, hovering in its branches. And it isn't just the way its long, draping limbs dip leaves into the lake,

like a beaded, viridescent curtain that I can slide through on my kayak as if passing into a magic world, though those things are already a lot for a tree to gift to the world. For me, it is the way a willow seems to curl around you. There is something protective in its architecture. It's a place to shelter in the rain.

to cool off on a sunny day, to hide away and read or just be with something bigger than you, to feel small and safe under its umbrella. I tracked across the broad, open land on my way to the willow tree. The ground was springy and damp, the grass just beginning to show green again, and I'd worn my tall boots in case of any flooded spots.

The snow had been gone for just a week or two, but the sun had been shining so brightly each day that it felt like we were riding downhill toward summer. In just my jeans and a sweater, I felt warmed through as I trod over the bare ground. Even this far off, I could smell the lake, the fresh scent of the water, clear water.

and mineral just released from the ice was in every breath I took. The steady plod of my feet, the rising color in my cheeks, made me feel like I was syncing up with the natural world around me. Of course, I am nature myself, and I can never really be unstitched from that fabric. But after months inside...

After weeks with barely a glimpse of the sun, or more than a few moments in the open air, you can feel like old friends have gone far too long without a catch-up. So I was breathing deep, opening my ears and eyes to all that I could. A breeze began to nudge my hat from my head, and I reached up and swiped it off.

The warmth of the sunlight, the cool breeze around my temples. What a gift the world was today. In the distance, the willow tree was gaining size and detail. When I'd set out, it was just an indistinct dark spot on the horizon. The lake, a broad shimmer. Now I could hear the ripple of water at the shore.

and the creaking of breaking ice further out. I turned a bit, deciding to go first to the water and then to my tree. Ah, to be alone in a place like this. The land rose then dipped down in sandy spots at the edge of the lake, and I stood at the high point, looking down and looking out. Driftwood

and scraps of tumbled grass and dead leaves dotted the sand. Tiny trails ran through and around all of it. Birds and small animals had left their mark. A lone bench sat on the bluff, and I found my way to it, stretching my legs out and crossing my ankles, tipping my head back to let the sun warm my face.

Sometimes we get caught up in questions about what it all means, what we are meant to be achieving, where we are meant to end up, and by what age, and with what accolades. But what if just living is the point? What if we are like the birds and the trees, without a why, just alive because we are?

On the far side of the lake, a gaggle of geese paddled through the water, and I wondered if they had stayed through the winter, or just returned from a few months away. My brain, so used to jumping ahead or floundering in the past, now stayed longer and longer with the scents and sounds and sights.

I let my heart rate slow, found myself sighing and even yawning. I turned on my bench, slinging my arm over its back and looking toward the willow tree. The breeze tossed my hair over my eyes, and I smiled as I tucked the strands behind my ears. It was forty feet tall, if it was an inch.

and the span of its branches looked just as wide. I pushed up to my feet and started toward it. There were stepping stones dotted along the bluff, and I followed them, stretching out my stride to nearly leaps in places. They led away from the water, and eventually I was under the golden dome of blooming willow branches.

I'd read somewhere that willows have other names. Sometimes they are called sallows or osiers, and I liked the way both of those words felt in my mouth. Fossils of them have been found dating to some 40 or 50 million years ago. That's how long they have been, early to mark the spring and drape over water.

A willow branch, when broken off, can simply be stuck in the ground, and it will often produce a whole new tree. What a survivor, I thought, as I got closer and reached out to place my palm on its trunk. I closed my eyes and drew deep breaths through my nose. I imagined pulling a bit of whatever was in the tree, whatever made it,

who and what it was into me, its strength and adaptability, its protective attitude and hopeful early bloom. I noticed how it felt in my chest and belly, in my legs and fingers, and looked for any spots that felt stopped up. Patiently, I kept my hand on the tree and my breath circling, and soon my highways were clear.

My back roads wide open. I opened my eyes and let my palm fall away from the bark, turned and leaned my back against it. I was calmed, quieted, nothing to search for or achieve. I just was as the tree and the water were. The willow tree. It isn't just that the willow is the first tree each spring.

to sprout leaves, though certainly that is a glimmer I go looking for each year, to see the light yellow haze like a flaxen fog hovering in its branches. And it isn't just the way its long, draping limbs dip leaves into the lake like a beaded, viridescent curtain.

that I can slide through on my kayak, as if passing into a magic world. Though those things are already a lot for a tree to gift the world. For me, it is the way a willow seems to curl around you. There is something protective in its architecture. It's a place to shelter from

in the rain, to cool off on a sunny day, to hide away and read, or just be with something bigger than you, to feel small and safe under its umbrella. I tracked across the broad open land on my way to the willow tree. The ground was springy and damp,

the grass just beginning to show green again, and I'd worn my tall boots in case of any flooded spots. The snow had been gone for just a week or two, but the sun had been shining so brightly each day that it felt like we were riding downhill toward summer. In just my jeans and a sweater, I felt warmed through,

as I trod over the bare ground. Even this far off, I could smell the lake, the fresh scent of water, clear and mineral, just released from the ice, was in every breath I took. The steady plod of my feet and rising color in my cheeks made me feel like I was sinking up with the natural world around me. Of course,

I am nature myself and can never really be unstitched from that fabric. But after months inside, after weeks with barely a glimpse of the sun, or more than a few moments in the open air, you can feel like old friends who've gone far too long without a catch-up. So I was breathing deep,

opening my eyes and ears to all that I could. A breeze began to nudge my hat from my head, and I reached up and swiped it off. The warmth of the sunlight, the cool breeze around my temples. What a gift the world was today. In the distance, the willow tree was gaining size and detail.

When I'd set out, it was just an indistinct dark spot on the horizon, the lake a broad shimmer. Now I could hear the ripple of water at the shore and the creaking of breaking ice further out. I turned a bit, deciding to go first to the water, then to my tree. Ah, to be alone again.

In a place like this, the land rose, then dipped down in sandy spots at the edge of the lake, and I stood at the high point, looking down and looking out. Driftwood and scraps of tumbled grass and dead leaves dotted the sand. Tiny trails ran through and around all of it,

Birds and small animals had left their mark. A lone bench sat on the bluff, and I found my way to it, stretching my legs out and crossing my ankles, tipping my head back to let the sun warm my face. Sometimes we get caught up in questions about what it all means.

what we are meant to be achieving, where we are meant to end up, and by what age, and with what accolades. But what if just living is the point? What if we are like the birds and the trees, without a why, just alive, because we are? On the far side of the lake, a gaggle of geese paddled through the water.

and I wondered if they had stayed through the winter, or just returned from a few months away. My brain, so used to jumping ahead or floundering in the past, now stayed longer and longer. With the scents, sounds, and sights, I let my heart rate slow, found myself sighing and even yawning.

I turned on the bench, slinging my arm over its back and looking toward the willow tree. The breeze tossed my hair over my eyes, and I smiled as I tucked the strands behind my ears. It was forty feet tall, if it was an inch, and the span of its branches looked just as wide. I pushed up to my feet.

and started toward it. There were stepping stones dotted along the bluff, and I followed them, stretching out my stride to nearly leaps and places. They led away from the water, and eventually I was under the golden dome of blooming willow branches. I'd read somewhere that willows have other names.

Sometimes they are called sallows or osiers, and I liked the way both of those words felt in my mouth. Fossils of them have been found dating to some 40 or 50 million years ago. That's how long they have been, early to mark the spring and drape over water.

A willow branch, when broken off, can simply be stuck in the ground, and it will often produce a whole new tree. What a survivor, I thought, as I got closer and reached out to place my palm on its trunk. I closed my eyes and drew deep breaths through my nose. I imagined something

pulling a bit of whatever was in the tree, whatever made it, who and what it was, into me. Its strength and adaptability, its protective attitude and hopeful early bloom. I noticed how it felt in my chest and belly, in my legs and fingers, and looked for any spots that felt stopped up.

Patiently, I kept my hand on the tree and my breath circling, and soon my highways were clear, my back roads wide open. I opened my eyes and let my palm fall away from the bark, turned and leaned my back against it. I was calmed, quieted, nothing to search for or achieve.

I just was, as the tree and the water were. Sweet dreams.