Big Basin Redwoods

This is a picture of me standing underneath a very tall Redwood friend in the Big Basin National Park near San Jose, CA. This was from earlier this year, but the picture just came up on my widget and it got me thinking.

These trees are so beautiful and have such a peaceful energy. I was sad to see evidence of fire inside most of their parted trunks. At first I thought it must've been an accidental forest fire, but later I learned they have controlled burns in the redwood forests. I was even sadder to know this was done on purpose. The rangers say it's to "help" get the seeds through the forest bed so they can root and grow more trees. I haven't studied forestry like they have, but this doesn't sound logical to me. You're going to damage the old trees so you can have new ones? There are ancient forests, redwoods being some of the oldest trees on the planet, that are twice a human's age and more, and they got along just fine before we started "helping" them. It just feels awfully conceited of us humans to think they need our help. The best way I feel we can help them is to admire their beauty, offer our love, and be careful not to ruin their environment, but otherwise leave them alone. Nature always takes care of itself.

I think the real problem is that humans are too resistant to change. They want everything to stay exactly as it is day to day, but change is inevitable. Forests evolve just as we do. The forests your children will enjoy may be different than the ones you grew up with, but it doesn't mean they're any less enjoyable. It would be so much easier if humans would learn to just go with the flow - roll with the changes and adapt. We're not all here to have the exact same experience, nor would we want to if that were actually happening. We should celebrate our differences, and the difference time brings to all living things.

If you sit inside one of these gentle giants and listen, you'll hear them whisper how you must bend with the winds of change so you don't break.