Odd Things In the Forest

Some guys never get over being Tree Guys.

This was a practice session of yoga with walkie-talkies.

I'm not kidding.

Perhaps practicing Meadow Yoga with Helicopters.  Kai would have loved this.

Fascinated with where the Giants meet the Earth, I found that I took many photos of their beautiful feet.  Reminding me of elephant toes.

Each one individual.  Each so solid.  Grounded.

I suppose one could tell a lot about their unique personality.  Maybe.  

A tiny stream frolics over the boulder, as it makes its way down the mountain, through the Grove of Giants.

Last year the fire was right here.  Burnt her toes.

Have you ever heard of Julia Butterfly Hill?  She lived in a huge, old growth Redwood tree near the town where I was born in Northern California.  She was up, way up, on a platform built near the top of the tree.  She named the tree Luna.  Tonight I googled her, to find that soon after her negotiated truce to come down and to protect the tree, with the Pacific Lumber Co.,  that the tree was cut nearly through by chainsaw in 2001.  The Lumber Company, the foresters, the Humboldt State University biologists, and tree specialists all worked together to create a giant steel brace to save Luna.  The vandalizing logger has never been found, or charged.

I don't know why that story came up, except that I remember reading some of her writing.  She wrote of how she began to feel the tree's response to the weather, of how the Redwood seemed to relax into the storm rather than resist.  

Of course, if you have ever leaned into a tree you may have experience the deep comfort emanating from deep within its core.  Tree hugging is a direct route to Peace.

When Julia Butterfly Hill sat high in the Redwood,  forces were already well into play of economic doom for the area, for the whole country, really.  Corporate greed had come to Humboldt.  Her actions angered (infuriated) many.  I have heard it said that she didn't really stay up there all that time.   I don't know, I haven't even read her book in its entirety.  Of course, I love that she named the tree Luna. 

(Smile)

I admire Julia Butterfly Hill for taking a stand about something important.  The Old Growth Redwoods are important.  It took an act of crazy courage to bring the insanity of clear-cutting to a halt.  Humans need the wild things, including wild plants.  We need our ancient forests.  We need to stop destroying the amazing ecosystems which have flourished on the planet, in fact, made it a place where humans can survive.

I wonder how Luna the Tree is doing?  I wonder how the logger is doing?  I hope that some Peace has settled into all.

Let's dream of Balance for tonight.

xoxoLC