Reflecting Once More on the Universe within the Sol Duc Rainforest

Reflecting Once More on the Universe within the Sol Duc Rainforest

Streams of warming sunlight penetrate through the old-growth canopy of green, slipping down hundreds of feet to the sparsely-strewn understory. Tiny, brown Pacific wrens creep among brush piles, scamper over upturned roots or along downed logs searching out spiders and insects. Their tinkly, trilling songs are joined by the cheerful, whistling melodies of robins greeting the dawn sky. Ravens echo in the distance and Steller’s jays let all the world know they have arrived.

Sunlight greets the forest floor.

Entranced by the forest’s beauty, we silently walk the duff-lined trails witnessing a scene complete unto itself as the sweet odors of spring embrace and envelope us. Below ground, billions of fungal strands connect and branch off, securing moisture, minerals, medicinals and starches to nourish and enliven the forest’s intrinsic gifts.

These ancients stand in witness to journeys made up and down the Sol Duc River Valley. Like whales in the oceans that carry the history in their bones and songlines in their blood, the trees along the river hold history in their wood and sap, in their roots and mycorrhizal connections.

Ancients of the Sol Duc River Valley.

Some Douglas-fir trees, Sitka spruce, Pacific Red cedar and Western hemlock stand tall and majestic, many lean; others already on the ground offer their rotting trunks to nurse a plethora of emerging seedlings, living microbial communities and countless insects and spiders. The older deciduous, Bigleaf maples hold tons of epiphytic plants eking out a rainforest existence in meagre soils atop lichen-strewn, mossy branches.

Ringed by elder trees, skunk cabbages and ferns, a spring pond mirrors back days of blue sky, nights of slivered moonlight, canopies filled with stars and mysteries cradled in waters cold from chilling autumn rains and snow melt.

Sol Duc Reflection Pool in the Ancient Groves

Perhaps human ancients trod similar duff-lined trails among forest beings, taking in the history, storing it in their bones, giving it witness as they traveled through the universe. I like to think their reflections helped form the beauty way… and through all of us, may it continue.

Until our next journey, peace be unto you…

And a special thank you to Michael for his awesome photos of the reflections!

Reflecting on the Universe at Sol Duc Rainforest

Reflecting on the Universe at Sol Duc Rainforest

On its journey through the universe accompanied by ancient trees growing in this old-growth rainforest, sunlight streams through their canopy of green. Pacific wrens ascend to search out spiders and insects, establish territories and with robins, to sing the morning awake. 

Sunlight greets the forest floor.

I stand in silence on a duff-lined trail entranced by the forest’s beauty––witnessing a scene complete unto itself as the sweet odors of spring embrace and envelope me. Below ground billions of fungal strands connect and branch off, securing moisture, minerals, medicinals and starches to enliven that said gift of air.

These ancients stand in witness to the journeys made up and down the Sol Duc River Valley. Like whales in the oceans that carry the history in their bones and songlines in their blood, the trees along the river hold it in their wood and sap, in their roots and mycorrhizal connections.

Ancients of the Sol Duc River Valley.

Some evergreen, needle-forming Douglas-fir, and Western hemlock stand tall and majestic, many lean; others on the ground offer their rotting trunks to nurse a plethora of emerging seedlings, living bacterial communities and countless bugs.The older deciduous, Bigleaf maples hold tons of epiphytic plants eking out their rainforest existence atop lichen-strewn, mossy branches in which voles and spiders dine.

Ringed so by ancient ones, skunk cabbages and ferns, a spring pond mirrors back days of blue sky, nights of slivered moonlight and of canopies filled with stars and mysteries cradled in waters cold from chilling autumn rains and snow melt. 

Sol Duc Reflection Pool in the Ancient Groves

Perhaps human ancients trod similar duff-lined trails among forest beings, taking in the history, storing it in their bones. They gave witness as they traveled through the universe. I like to think their reflections helped form the beauty way… and through us, it continues to happen.

Until our next journey, peace be unto you…

And a special thank you to Michael for his awesome photos of the reflections!

Tree Prayers in the Sol Duc River Rain Forest

Part of living a life of voluntary simplicity has been giving thanks to Gaia for the bountiful resources she provides. Appreciating the gifts of clean water, clean air and trees has been a priority for decades.

Sacred Communication

On Good Friday, my husband and I made a pilgrimage to Sol Duc Rain Forest on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State to greet the spring season. Carrying a pouch with blue corn kernels and flour from our own plants, a crystal for immersion in the stream and white sage for smudging, I entered a favorite grove along a trail still covered with snow and ice. I was greeted by an elder tree energy that made me totally forget I was on precarious footing as it drew me to make contact with a large Douglas Fir at the side of the trail. I feel this particular energy with only perhaps one in several hundred trees I stroke or hug each year. It draws me like an arrow to a target, a magnet to a metal contact. The effect is dynamic…we touch, my mind goes blank, we download unto each other with no words, emotions or visions expressed…pure energy. I cry, I grieve, I laugh, I love all in the matter of a few seconds and then the energy dissipates and I come away feeling clean, fully refreshed with renewed vision. It’s not like a dream where I remember bits and pieces but I always come away have a better sense of myself and my part in Gaia’s evolution. I can never predict when this will happen or the size of the tree involved. I’ve been tapped by saplings as well as redwoods, alders on stream banks as well as ohia trees in the tropics. Although it’s also happened with herbs and flowers, for me it occurs more often with trees.

The Sol Duc River above the falls now filled with flow from the melting snows

I completed my blessings at the stream bank by immersing the crystal, dipping my hands in the water and giving thanks to the environmental entities present and creating a flour paste to place on my brow chakra. Friday’s smudging was most powerful and I stood in the swirling smoke as if in an altered state until the stream’s murmurings drew me back, tears streaming down my face. A blessed day indeed.