It was a cool, late spring evening in 1978 when I first met the ancient beings known as redwoods. I was 5 years old and we were on a family road trip to visit friends in Washington State. My eyes were shocked, my mind baffled and my spirits lifted at the presence of these magnificent beings.

As we slowed for the winding road, the presence of the forest became all-encompassing. I was in a state of awe. My dad inquisitively asked, "What do you think those are?"

"I don't know." I replied. "May be they are silent still dinosaurs and those are their feet and long legs." We slowly passed through the grove--my awe and wonder growing. What could these magnificent creatures be?

As we neared the end of the grove my dad forwarded the postulate, "Do you think they might be trees??? Redwood trees maybe?"

"No way!" I reply. They couldn't be trees. I knew about trees. I loved climbing trees. I ate fruit from trees in our yard from the first day I could crawl over and pick a guava up off the ground and pop it in my mouth. I climbed trees at school and in the park. In certain ways trees have been my best friends for all my life. They don't judge you when you're sad. They don't say nasty things in a moment of frustration. They are a safe haven for the tender of spirit when the world seems harsh and unforgiving. But these creatures were well beyond the scope with which I was familiar.

Gradually the darkness of the evening in the redwood forest began to grow less dim and soon we emerged out of the grove. It was a short but very moving and formative moment in my life. So much so that our trip would go no further without another pass, "Go back." I said.

"Really?" My dad replied, "We have quite a bit more driving to get to where we are staying tonight."

"Go back." I repeated. And go back we did. We took another slow pass through the grove and took another look back into time when these docile giants spanned a great deal of the globe and a more recent span along the Pacific Rim. My imagination ran wild with inspiration from this magnificent place and these unreal creatures. The idea that these were trees was growing on me. I rolled my window down, poked my head out into the rainy evening air, and peeked up at the seemingly unending rising giants. "Do you really think these are trees?"

"I'm not sure, but I think so..." My dad answered.

"Well it seems like they might be... but I'm not sure either. They are different than any other tree I've ever seen."

The dim evening light began to lighten and the end of the grove approached and we emerged. To my great pleasure another pass was inevitable as we had doubled back for this second pass and a third was unavoidable to get us back on track.

This third pass we took in silence...my mom, dad, and myself simply trying to take in the grove and all its wonder. We emerged into the light and I broke the silence, "go back."

With some reluctance knowing the still long drive and dimming evening light, my dad obliged. We took another pass. And another to get us back on the right track. Again I said, "Go back."

This time I did not prevail as we had a long trip ahead and if we were to make progress we would have to leave the grove behind for now. The grove we left behind was seemingly un changed by our 5 passes, but my psyche will forever wear the imprint of that rainy evening in the spring of 1978.