forest sentinel
One rare and brilliant sunny day, ten days ago,
we came upon this proud ancient sentinel of the forest
March 17, 2011 in Nature, Photoworks by Marja-Leena
by Marja-Leena Marja-Leena Rathje
on printworks and other passions
by Marja-Leena
amazing. funny how the species of trees one grows up with always look so friendly. x
Elisa, you sound a bit homesick. Do you think these are ‘unfriendly’ to others?
I was a bit afraid of the size of Northwestern American trees over there. The forests look exactly like here, but the scale is totally different.
So: maybe it is as Elisa says, that the trees one grows up with look the friendliest ones?
Ripsa, yes, the trees here in the Pacific Northwest are huge, thanks to being in a relatively mild rainforest climate, but they are not unfriendly in their very majesty. Trees in Finland, even elsewhere in Canada are so much smaller. I’m used to both but do miss this Northwest when I’m away for too long.
One of my most extraordinary experiences was seeing the redwood forest in northern California for the first time. Some of those trees are more than 3 thousand years old and their presence exudes wisdom.
There’s another first growth forest at the top of Vancouver Island, isn’t there? At least there was 35 years ago when I walked through it last. These days one can’t be sure what may or may not endure.
Susan, I remember we drove through that redwood forest once about a couple of decades ago, in heavy fog and rain, so disappointing. There are spots of old growth in several areas on Vancouver Island as well as some of the biggest trees. So much has been logged, sometimes illegally but Carmanah is one well-known area in the south of the Island that was mostly saved by protesters. This whole Pacific Northwest from California to northern BC and Alaska is really so beautiful for its trees.