Vendor Writing: Daniel H.

California Time Keepers

BY DANIEL H., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

Growing up on the East Coast, most of your time is spent around either an ocean or the woods. It is usually a place to visit for vacations. Woods are magical to a small child. There you can play with your friends or read books as you sit against a tree where no one can find you. As you get a little older, trees take on a different type of fun. Now you are close to or just turning into a teenager, and the trees seem to get a little smaller. You are a cub scout or even a girl scout exploring, fishing and taking walks with your friends and talking about your studies or your boyfriend/girlfriend. At this age, family camping is a time-honored tradition.

Painting by Daniel H.

Think back to your favorite memories, and I will bet you the woods holds some of those memories. Want to hear a secret? The woods also remember you. How, you say? Well, every time you walk into an area of trees you effect everything around you. The woods keep track of what you have done. From the deer you saw or the the wood you chopped or found for a fire in your camp.

Now, you have grown and gotten more mature. The woods have a familiar feel. A place you may have visited many times, and as we get older we get caught up in work or family. The woods are used for camping or maybe long walks, like hiking, another time-honored tradition.

What does California have to do with me living in Tennessee? After all, we have woods, and places to visit like Gatlinburg. Remember our ancestors traveled West to start a new life.

Like Davey Crockett and Daniel Boon. We have extended family who the woods provide food, shelter and a new home.

As we traveled West, we left our mark and reminded others how brave we were. The Northern California Redwood (Sequoia Semperviren) trees have paid witness to this. As people move in the woods have shrank or caught fire from individuals who have not taken the same care or concern as those who have come before them. We must respect everything around us and use it wisely or it will disappear.

I met a Contributor volunteer named Andy Shapiro who has a sequoia tree tattooed on his arm. It drew my attention, so I asked him the story of it. He wears it to honor California Firefighters that he used to be a part of for 40 years. It was his favorite tree. I painted a tree so that the readers can get a feeling of how beau tiful the trees are and their importance to the environment. I am asking anyone who shares memories of trees or wants to give back so an area that has been wiped out of so many trees due to fires. Help give a future to the people that have not yet seen what trees can give us. (Learn more about these trees and donate to their preservation at www.sempervirens.org.)

Please share this story with friends, family, and coworkers. Anything you can do will make a difference to so many people, and thank you.

I dedicate this story to Andy Shapiro along with the men and women who served beside him in sacrificing their lives so we can have a future.