Have you ever been left without words because something is just so beautiful? For me, when it happens, I am usually taken off guard. It rarely comes as I expected: For example, when I was twenty years old, I saw Les Misérables for the first time, and it left such an impression on me that that experience began my unquenchable search for beauty, which drives me every day of my life.
I suppose that we can predict some of these moments, such as the time I gave birth to my children. Yes, people tell us how unforgettable those occasions will be, but until we experience them for ourselves, we don’t fully understand that those moments leave us speechless and with a lasting imprint.
Have you ever had a memory like that, one that you can revisit over and over again? No, not every day necessarily, because that would merely make the extraordinary ordinary. But what if you could visit one of these moments once, or even twice, a year? Wouldn’t that be something special? Something worth writing about?
Typically, this visit occurs when the vibrant colors of green oak leaves give way to the splendor of fall. When we aren’t looking, nature’s paintbrush dips generously into the well of yellows, browns, golds, and reds on its immense color palette. But not here, not where green blankets the sky in a constant cycle of rebirth and renewal. Here, the silent and the strong are not flustered by our busied minds. No. Here, you and I will come and go while they remain, for they are not bound to time as we are—the ticking of a clock that they have managed to slow down, down, down. My life span is merely a few small breaths for these giant redwoods in Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve.
Holy doesn’t describe the majesty, the awe they inspire. Quiet isn’t the word to show how still the silence is in the heart of their grove. Worship, some might say, is a brief expression and glimpse of God. Perhaps. Can one truly see or know the Divine and not perish in our frail humanity? So, I would like to think the giant redwoods are a glimpse of what is most holy. Were this a building, it would be a house of worship, where baptisms take place, wedding vows are exchanged, and prayers are offered to heaven. And here I am walking through this place in tennis shoes, leggings, and a T-shirt?
The words, “come as you are,” take on a whole new meaning, and I do over and over again to claim my fill of unresting energy, life, and goodness that seeps into the very marrow of my makeup. It is the “I Am that I Am” that gets me every time. It is the redwoods’ unapologetic self that teaches me to be more me, authentic, more real in the real world. It is their wisdom of time that guides me. It is their community, network, and giving to each other that moves me, speaks so clearly to me. They are that taste of spring water from the source, not bottled, capped, and labeled, but rather simply flowing freely for the taking. Yes, these redwoods are all those things to me, and it never gets old.
But perhaps the greatest lesson of all is their constant reminder of my frailty and that time is not the same for me as it is for them. And when in three hundred and fifty-three years from now, a redwood finally gives way to the winter storm’s howling winds and rising waters, it is not forgotten, lost, or even missed. Instead, it makes way for fresh sunbeams to reach its young and provides nutrients for generations to come, thus lasting more lifetimes than one can count.
But for this moment, it stands unmoving, proud, strong, and unfettered by my resting hand on its thick red-haired bark, reminding me to return again and again and to have no fear of tomorrow. My time is not wasted. Be what I am. That is today’s lesson and reminder until my next return.
Do you share my opinion? You may or may not. Where is that special spot that speaks to you so clearly?
If you haven’t been to Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve, merely a windy half-hour drive outside Ukiah, give it a try. I have always met at least one other person/group passing by on the mile or so trail, but rarely more than three. It is the quiet escape that beckons me time and time again.
Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve
15825 Orr Springs Road
Long. 39.235153,
Lat. -123.396442
Ukiah, CA 95482
(707) 937-5804 (district office)
