THE LIFE ENCIRCLED WITHIN
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK
23 - 24 May 2018
Everything in nature called destruction must be creation
- a change from beauty to beauty.
~ John Muir
DIARY ENTRY {24 May} ::
I stood in a cavern of a tall tree, it smelled like fire and burnt sap and charcoal. I could hear the forest breathing, a fly buzzing, branches creaking. I left my worries behind, to walk in the forest.
Fire is a vital element in the sequoias life-cycle - their small egg-sized cones will stay closed for up to 20 years, waiting for the warmth of a forest fire to tempt them open so they can drop their seeds, en mass, on a newly bare and fertile soil. A roaring forest fire also helps the chances of a sequoia sapling by killing many of the insects that would feast on the young plants, and by clearing the forest - cleaning out the deep leaf litter, and allowing sunlight to pierce through the canopy. The much older sequoias, the monarchs of the forest, have evolved to survive through fire and flames by growing a thick layer of fibrous, fire-resistant bark, like a shield of armour. Fire has long been a living spark in these forests. Thus, from destruction comes a new act of creation.
I SPY:
pacific dogwood - in flower
miner’s lettuce
strawberry blooms
purple lupine
sugar pine - with HUGE cones!
squirrels, deer and finches
yellow flowers like violets
TANTALISING SCIENCE-Y BITS
& SMALL WONDERS:
Sequoias are the largest living organisms on our planet, by sheer volume. And yet, they grow from a seed the size of an oat flake!
Standing in the heart of the Hart Tree, hugging with my tiny arms around the huge body of that living being, feeling a heart beat, an energy of life pulsing within.
The surprise I felt, upon seeing the lush pockets of greenery tucked away deep in the forest - meadows flowing with wide shallow waters, almost like wetlands!
A feeling of being watched, seeing bear-shapes in every tree stump. A strange thought: perhaps they are nearby, sending out their spirit to tell us they are here?
A tiny sapling will grow into an old monarch over many thousands of years.
Sequoias, the largest of trees, are closely related to the tallest of trees - the Redwood. Yet, varying environments have entirely shaped the separate lives of these beautiful behemoths; whereas the Redwood gets most of its water from the low lying fogs of the coast, the Sequoia relies on the snowmelt of the mountains for its moisture.
The main dangers to these gentle giants of the forest are often caused by human interference in the delicate balance of nature: air pollution, diversions of water sources, and the long lack of forest fires due to forest mis-management. Yet science is catching up, seeing now that these dynamic processes work in a holistic sense to keep the whole forest alive… Restoration is happening, and we are learning to be in balance again with Mama Earth, who is our greatest teacher.
