I got to take a trip down to southern Oregon and North California to look at the Redwoods.
Magical.
It’s like seeing the divine. Trees that are hundreds if not a thousand years old standing there where they’ve seen so much history pass. Touching history. Being in the presence of so much of life.
Surviving fire, drought, continental drift, man’s encroachment and destruction.
Those forests have seen so much change. So much destruction and change and growth and life.
They are magical. Or at least they feel like it to me. The idea was to head down there and see the trees while I still can. We took the slow way down the coast on 101 from Newport to Port Orford to McKinnleyville, California. We went to the Jedidiah Smith State Park and the Avenue of the Giants; went through the Trees of Mystery and stopped by the Lady Bird Johnson Grove right outside Orick, Ca.
Its tough to describe the trip. I have wanted to go there for years- one of the reasons I got my truck was to head there while they still stood before the fire storms we get somehow burned them down.
And I wanted to see them before I die.
I told Teri about it and she arranged everything. She came along too and we took Freyja, my P2. It was a good trip. I think she wanted to go as both nursemaid- to make sure I didn’t get into a situation where I’d need help and not be able to do something and to make sure I didn’t go to those magical forests to end things to avoid the ravages of this disease. Either way, I appreciated her company. Though we both cried entirely too much.
Please understand that we left town on the Friday after I was diagnosed with ALS on Thursday. It was fresh. And real. And immediate. In a 90 minute appointment, my life had an expiration. A past due date. That date is still unknown, but it’s there, hovering in the future like the grim-fucking-reaper. Just biding his time, waiting until the clock ticks and my time is up. It changed the spirit of the trip from ‘oh hey, lets go see giant mysterious trees!’ to ‘I have to see these trees before I can’t move’.
It was a trip of firsts and lasts.
First time I’d see some of these viewpoints and trees.
Maybe the last time I smell the ocean like that or see that part of the world.
Last time.
It still seems surreal to think that way. but realistically, it’s tough to make the trip down there and once I can’t easily get into a car or travel, my days of seeing the ocean or majestic trees or anything like that will end. And I don’t know when it will happen. One day I’ll wake up and no longer be able to use a hand or turn my head or lift it properly and my ability to drive will be gone. And I’ve no idea when that’ll be- tomorrow or next month or a year or two? It’ll just be a surprise, like a monster jumping out of a closet. .
I’ve already met with my estate planning attorney and worked out details. I’ve looked at getting cremated and where to inter my remains. Still need to talk to my loved ones about that to make sure that all works for them. But I want to get that paid for so they don’t have to think about it when the time comes.
But back to the trees.
I could go on and on and try to describe how amazing and beautiful and awe-inspiring they were or I can just post some photos. I think that’s a better approach.
