A Remembrance Altar in the Redwoods

As we approach the Remembrance Altars event at Silver Lake Psychology next week, I’ve been thinking about the meaning of death.  This question was on my mind as I hiked the beautiful redwoods in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park.  Most redwoods grow from sprouts that form around the base of an old tree, using the nutrients and root system of the parent tree. When the parent tree dies, the new generation of trees rise around the parent tree’s stump, using that same root system, and creating a circle of trees that are called “fairy rings.” There is something touching about the children of the mother tree forming a circle around the mother and that they are all still connected to the stump. And I’m inspired that even in death a living thing is still providing the roots and structure that its children grow from and is still feeding and nourishing them. In the end, the remains of the parent tree become part of the children. It makes me trust in the process of death, that it has meaning and purpose. That it’s not an ending, but a cycle.​

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