It was a mystical morning in the mighty Redwood forest
near the coast of the Pacific. I have always been a dreamer..
and though the fog made a sort of screen
so I couldn't even see the higher branches of the trees,
it was still warm enough to settle myself down on the base of one.
I was alone, amidst the majesty of their power, and the tourists
were avoiding this path , which is why it was my favorite.
The path was very difficult to climb, and there was
no pond at the end, only some of the largest Redwoods and
most were more interested in the forest cathedral or a pond,
for some strange reason. I sat before its bounty for a very long time,
feeling more serene and protected in their presence
then I had felt in a very long while. I had brought a small blanket
to lay on, and looked up to stare at
the largest of the trees for a very long time..in my mind
I felt as though there was a very fine line between
sleep and awake ness, so I suppose I may never know
for fact whether what followed was a dream or
something real, but as I have aged I have come to believe
that dream or not, it was very real.
At first I heard a deep hum, which made me jump a little
and wonder what it was...but suddenly other hums joined the first,
and I realized it was the Redwoods surrounding me. I looked
from tree to tree, but could not see any significant
movement in them,
other than what the slight wind caused
to their lower branches. To my ears the hum was ...
I am not sure how to explain it even now.....
it felt welcoming, and perhaps desperate as well,
which saddened me very much. After listening
to their humming for a long while, I placed my
hand lovingly on one of the smaller Redwoods...
and thanked him for allowing me to enjoy
their music. I could not bring myself to apologize to them,
for I felt an apology from me would never be enough
to renew the joy they had once knew. I then
laid down back on my blanket and closed my eyes,
The hum was so peaceful I could hardly resist slumber. As I
felt my body relax and my mind begin to wander, the hum grew
slightly louder, and it seemed to be coming from everywhere
around me, no longer in many tones, but now in one
unified song. I began to feel joy, boundless and intense...
smelling the salty sea air and felt the
warm sun begin to shine on my body. While i
was feeling those things, suddenly the sounds turned
into words, but when i opened my eyes it
returned to music, so I closed them quickly again.
" We were young, the protectors of our land. We have
journeyed through time and many lands to find
somewhere we could exist in peace.
We came here, and many saplings sprouted, and we
could find no more peace anywhere than where
we had began building our haven. For an endless
amount of time, we took joy in feeling the
warm sun shining on us and could smell the power
of the land and the water which nourished us.
It was so for most of our lives... and then suddenly.....
We heard many footsteps: Men..... At first...
they were our friends, they helped nurture us
as well, and thought of us as powerful entities.
They damaged nothing, only added to our joy ...
sat under our boughs and were also happy.
Although much time seemed to pass like this..
one day some different humans ventured into our home.
They seemed careless, took bark from our bodies
and made small fires at night to warm themselves.
We hoped they would leave us in peace, but
in time we learned this was not to be.
They wanted things from us that they took... so much pain,
and anger we felt, and yet we were helpless.
They deemed our hums just a strange wind sweeping by,
and never realized we were alive. Soon they took some
of our branches home, or to build a fire right in front of us.
We were frightened. And now our existence is threatened
by humans with large axes ,though some of us are lucky,
we feel the agony of our brothers whose physical
form no longer exists. Please, do what you can to help us..."
With those words, they resumed their humming, and I laid there
in tremendous pain for many hours..I will never understand
the ignorance, or cruelty it takes, to hurt something so powerful,
alive long before we even came to this country..
is there anything I can do? Alone, I am not sure.
Joined together with others, our strength and
love will overcome
