Endor and the Redwood Trees

There is not much to say about motivation. Motivation is completely following an idea until its conclusion. That's about it. The process goes; have an idea, do it, done. Motivation is the 'do it' part of the process. When I was 9 solar years, a Cherokee friend of mine asked what is it that I wanted to do in my life time. (Travel off this planet) Yet, the answer I gave at the time, was to see the big trees, Redwoods and Sequoias before they disappeared. It took 17 solar years, but I did get to see them.
Sometimes people beings may get a little distracted from nonsensical barriers of everyday life. People place them constantly in front of themselves, go to do this, can't do that, it would be irresponsible, and these are the people without kids. Yet, there will always be something to inspire, and for myself it is the trees. Does not matter where, how many or how far, the sight, smell, and memory of the Redwoods will always make me smile.

The Presence of Trees

by Michael S. Glaser

I have always felt the living presence
of trees

the forest that calls to me as deeply
as I breathe,

as though the woods were marrow of my bone
as though

I myself were tree, a breathing, reaching
arc of the larger canopy

beside a brook bubbling to foam
like the one

deep in these woods,
that calls

that whispers home

My first place away from home was in a tree. A fort my friends and I built when I was small. I sat in a tree for two weeks when my grandfather died. Alone far away I was on one Christmas, no friends or family to cheer. I sat in Redwood forest for that day.
The snow was two or three feet high on the drive into the area of the Redwwod forest. Once inside the forest it changed, the air was pure, warm, and all sound was filtered from the trees. No snow reached the ground under the canopy. Except when a branch gave way to a load of snow. The thud was very distinctive as it hit ground. Under the trees it was moist, without being wet, and a small stream flowed freely without any signs of ice. I took off my coat and used it as a chair. I believe I slept for a little while, I can't remember, but I do know I never felt alone again.
From a seed no bigger than that of a tomato, a Redwood tree may grow to a height of over 370 feet, with a trunk width of 22 feet or more at its base. Imagine a 35-story skyscraper in your town and then you may have an inkling of how big these trees grow. Not only do they grow, but many live for thousands of years.
Its truly a wonder, uniquely American, and definitely something that needs to be seen at least once in a lifetime. The trees I describe are mere children to the trees that were taken and cut down, in the 1800's. Once there were trees called Mammoth Pines, that can now only be seen in pictures. This interpretive forest with twenty men standing side by side on top of a single stump.
George Lukas created a place called Endor, a forest moon. I surely hope that there are planets with trees such as this, and my future will rest in their tops.


Bumba, Dee, Da,...Happy Trails!