Alaska Blogging

New Life from Old

Old Growth Forrest in the Tsongas National Forrest. This tree stump is too huge to be believed-to the right of the stump you can see a hiker only about 20 feet away giving a hint as to the girth of the tree when it stood tall and proud. This stump is left over from the last time this forrest was harvested during World War II. It was picked because of an urgent need for ships masts following the attack on Pearl Harbor. From the stump, now more than 60 years old, has sprung new life. Which is one of the amazing things about an "old growth forrest," new life always, inevitably springs from old; it can't be stopped, it can't be hindered. It can't help but be wonderful.

This dying cypress, slowly returning to the dirt from whence it came, is surrounded (and supported) by fresh young life, perhaps a metaphor for how we should live our lives, with the old, aged and infirm surrounded and supported.