Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Mighty Majestic Regal Radiant Emerald Throne of a Forest

The Redwoods.

Michael has been here before, but for the rest of us, this trip was our first experience of the Redwood forest.  I don't want to put words in their mouths, so please know that I speak for myself as I extol the glory of these woods and the One who made them.

It's hard to know where to begin because relaying the experience second hand is so partial.  My skills  (or anyone else's I imagine) with photography and poetry are no where near sufficient to express the FULL-ON wonder of that place.

Walking through those woods for the first time, the Celtic part of my spirit lit up like never before.  It is so immense, so beautiful, so ancient and so ALIVE.  My mind still sparkles and gasps with the memory of it.  I'm still speechless apparently, so here is the beginning of the Wooded-Throne series.

WARNING: if you do not like the color green, turn back now!  Copious, gratuitous, unabashed glistening green to be found in every photo henceforth.

They were waiting for us :)



Can you guess which trail was my favorite?


A tree growing our of a tree.  A nice was to think about generations.

Add caption
Fact: The bark of the Pacific Coast Redwood is extremely resistant to fire.  However, if there is sufficient fuel at the base of tree when fire approaches, it can penetrate the bark and burn the uber flammable heart-wood of the tree.  It burns from the inside out and often leaves "chimneys" like the one Michael and Hannah are standing in.  Native Americans would often use the burnt-out trees as dwellings.



We had fun finding letters and numbers in the forest.  Can you spot our favorite letter?

St. Patrick would have loved this place.

2 comments:

Han Stoney said...

woah, magnificent -- what was it like scale-wise? Bigger than you expected?

AlisonSoFar said...

Some of the largest are as tall as the UT tower. It feels like walking among skyscrapers, only prettier and full of majesty.