This summer we were sitting at a picnic table in Glacier National Park when a gust of wind came from the west. A pine tree likely around 40-50 years old caught the wind and blew the tree over in our direction. Slightly confused we all scattered as it barely missed our picnic table. 

It makes you wonder. Why did it fall right at that moment? A tree has a long life. Why then? In Sequoia NP there is a large cross section of a fallen 1800 year old Sequoia. Each line bears scars. You can almost see the peaks and valleys of the good years and the bad. In the case of the Sequoia the rings tell a story that the tree had endured 80 forest fires during its lifetime. Droughts, floods, and insects take their toll. But still the tree was alive through the entire dark ages, the end of the Roman Empire and the fall of the Incas. It’s almost eerie. 

I was on a solo exploratory trip in Yellowstone when I came across this particular cross section in the backwoods. I stood over it and tried counting the rings. I wondered why it was so dark in the middle and not toward the edges. What animals had passed by this tree or rubbed antlers against it during its life? What size was it when my dad was a child wandering around this area? Had he perhaps seen it or even leaned against it? 

Da Vinci stated, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” This image to me is so sophisticated that you almost miss it. We pass by the most extraordinary things without giving them much thought. I hope this piece invites you to stop and to wonder. It is titled “A Simple Stump.”