Jason loves trees. They are his passion.
One of the reasons for this trip was that Jason wanted the girls to see the huge coastal trees in California: redwoods, sequoia and giant sequoia.
Jason has read a lot about these trees over the years and so, when we got there, he spent quite a while talking to the park rangers and naturalists. We learned that while these trees are maybe 2000 years old, they are descended from trees that were started 2000 years before that! It's pretty amazing when you think about it! These trees often grow in circles, the middle of that circle once stood the original tree from whose roots these trees sprouted. That tree died and decayed, the soil has been tested and its been confirmed that a tree was there and had been for a long period of time based on the amount of matter that decomposed. It was fascinating!
It is humbling to stand near these trees.
You realize how short a period of time we have been here.
How minuscule some of our problems are.
How the world will keep turning and trees will keep reaching toward the sun.
Pretty awesome.
I kept singing the REM song, "I remember redwood trees, bumper cars and Wolverines..." and well, that irritated my family. That was, of course, when they were not making me go on crazy hikes where we were walking on 18 inch wide ledges on the sides of sheer cliffs!
But we had fun and I am so glad we went!
