A Smallness We Find Comforting

South of where I live by just over an hour is Henry Cowell State Park. The park features redwood trees that are upward of 1,600 years old. For some perspective, only seven nations on earth are older than these trees. Toward the back of the park is a redwood you can climb into and stand fully upright. The tree’s roots have grown to provide a doorway, complete with a small staircase leading down into the earth. During a recent visit, as I was waiting my turn to enter the tree, I watched a younger man wearing a very nice business suit smack his head on the tree…