Well, Peter and I took a suprise road trip (surprise because I found out about it late Saturday afternoon) to the Sequoia National Park. It's about 6 hours from the house and worth every mile. I know people are jazzed or renewed by a trip to the beach, but I have to tell you, this little Capricorn/earth sign could live in the forest for the rest of my (un)natural life. The sequoias are some of the largest and oldest living organisms on the planet earth. General Sherman is the single largest living thing on the globe. I picked up two seed cones from the General. It's stunning.The sequoias are located in what's called the "Giants' Forest". They actually take one's breath away. The first thing that hit me when I opened the car window was the incredible full fragrance of musky heady pine. It was like nothing I had ever experienced. I will spend the rest of my life in every head shop I ever visit sniffing incense looking for that fragrance; a quest I'm certain that will be in vain.
We saw wild life! We passed 6 does and fawns grazing...so cute all together out for an outing...As we passed each one (I was counting), they each looked up at me and MADE EYE CONTACT!!!! They have the most serene expressions...despite the fact that they're almost always on the menu somewhere. And we also saw a black bear...just right there at the end of the hood of our car...I was all freaky about it locking the door and rolling up the windows. Peter was laughing. He's much more relaxed about it than me because he camps. He actually got out and was sneaking behind trees following it to get its pictures...um....no thanks....
And then the trees...interestingly, when I touched the sequoias, they feel like styrofoam and can be picked at very easily....so weird....and when I tapped on it, it sounded hollow...so how can they survive THOUSANDS OF YEARS if it feels like I can "take it down"....oh silly me....these tree actually have LIGHTINING STRIKE SCARS....they LAUGH at lightening....they don't die by lightening (typically)...they don't die from old age...the don't die from fungi, parasites or insects....do you know how these giants die?....THEY FALL DOWN..that's how they die...circumstances conspire that cause them to simply fall down and that could take thousands and thousands of years.
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"Kids, how old was your mother when she passed?"
"She was 120 years old...but we feel like she lived a fairly full life."
"How did she die?"
"She was chasing fairies through the forest and just fell down. No sign of violence, the old lady just fell over. Gone. Kaput. Done. But happy. No fairies though."
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But I do have to say, standing in a rather secluded grove, just us, no one else, among several of the moss covered giants, and an overcast sky with just a few shafts of light filtering down through the trees and landing on the ferns and forest floor, one could believe in enchantment spells...because I was hooked thereafter...the forest is for me...plain and enchantingly simple.
2 comments:
So that's where I get my love of nature! You're so right, the trees are beautiful and so serene. Be one with the tree. Be a tree hugger....it's fun, just ask Emma.
Emma IS a little tree hugger. . .and animal lover. The latter she did NOT get from me. She told me she wanted to be a vet and I said to her, "oh! Then you can put animals to sleep!" I, of course, was teasing her. But, she looked at me like I was the devil. Got to love disfunctional aunts!
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