This little house in Carmel, California, is where I spend my several weeks each year in late winter. For as many years as I have been going out, I have wanted to capture the effect of light filtering down through the old oaks on the street here. This year I finally tried and think I've done a credible job without getting too specific. The trees are not all that ancient but have a way of surviving without much attention, and of being very protective of the land and people beneath them.
I wish I could say more powerfully how important it is for us to understand that we are the only stewards of the earth with the knowledge and power to keep the earth sustainable. Who else can rescue us? The trees, the whales, the wolves, perhaps the roaches or other sorts of bugs can outlast us but will they have the sense to attempt to balance one species with the others in some kind of harmony? I think not. It really is up to us as a species to recognize how important to our wellbeing trees are, how they need to be 'harvested' from time to time, for our fuel and their health, just as we are.
When I do my training walks with new docents at Point Lobos State Reserve, I try to make the point that in knowing how man has interacted with the environment historically, we can make better decisions in the present. We ignore the past at our own peril. The Point Lobos area is a great example of both the good and bad aspects of our interactions with the environment. But so is Maine. The recent decision to allow some development in the Moosehead Lake Region, called the Plum Creek development, is a story of the political process working to balance development with a sustainable forest economy - I hope. At least something has been decided; now all we have to do is wait and see if the economy will actually 'allow' the development to occur!
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