The Tree of Life, Washington State

2020 was the year that life forgot. The global pandemic effectively shut down life as society knows it. The lockdown, the fear, the uncertainty, the deaths, all took their toll on me. So too did the slow realization that I had late last week, that I haven’t seen 99% of my friends and loved ones in person in nearly a year. As I look forward to 2021 and the hope that the vaccines will bring a fresh start, I am reminded of this photo I took in September while on a trip to the Pacific Coast, here in Washington. The trip was to celebrate the our one year wedding anniversary as well as the two year wedding anniversary of our best friends.

The Tree of Life, or the Kalaloch Tree, as our native hosts call it, is a natural wonder. It’s a Sitka Spruce tree. The cliff face below it has eroded away over time, yet the tree continues to cling to the ground around it, even with it’s roots exposed. Every year, people make the pilgrimage to the tree, expecting to see it has fallen. It remains steadfastly attached to where it seeded, so many years ago.

This photo has become a bit of a reminder for me to keep holding on, even during the troubling times we are facing. Here’s to digging our roots deeper into our own cliff faces in 2021, and in years to come.