Redwoods

But more impressive than the facts and figures as to height, width, age, etc., are the entrancing beauty and tranquility that pervade the forest, the feelings of peace, awe and reverence that it inspires. – George McDonald, Dollarwise Guide to California and Las Vegas, 1983, about Muir

No nobler monuments of our love for beauty can be erected than to preserve these oldest and biggest trees in the world and these tallest trees in America. – French Strother, “Saving the Big Trees: The Need of Further National, Stat

Sweet wet balm of bough and branch…. Here is a chestnut sister, and there a sequoia brother. – Virginia Garland, “The Rain,” Out West: A Magazine of the Old Pacifi

The redwood is one of the few conifers that sprout from the stump and roots, and it declares itself willing to begin immediately to repair the damage of the lumberman and also that of the forest-burner. – John Muir, “The American Forests,” August 1897

Gigantic second and third growth trees are found in the redwoods, forming magnificent temple-like circles around charred ruins more than a thousand years old. – John Muir, “The American Forests,” August 1897

[T]he ground beneath them is a garden of fresh, exuberant ferns, lilies, gaultheria, and rhododendron. – John Muir, “The American Forests,” August 1897

My dad once gave me a few words of wisdom which I’ve always tried to live by. He said, Son, never throw a punch at a redwood. – Magnum, P.I.

…mystery and charm unique among living works of creation… – Author unknown [This was reportedly said to Grant, Osborn, and Merriam, describi

What a generous wood! what a glorious and all-seeing Providence, to provide so liberally for the inhabitants of the Sunset Land! – W.A. Pryal, “Lumber for Hives: Some Interesting Data on the Way Lumber is

The most beautiful antiques are not found in stores. – WishHunt.com

To whoever invented fantasy, redwood trees, and apple pie for breakfast: well done. – Dr.SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com

A redwood tree sighs, tall, broad, contented. But the aspen tree has itchy feet—as winds blow, it bends, yearning to be a traveling man. – Dr.SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com

The scent of rain, as an ancient redwood tree points to the first evening star. – Dr.SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com

Easy places in which to lose your mind: bakeries, bookstores, redwood forests, wild gardens. – Dr.SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com

Through the branches of a giant redwood tree already two thousand years old floats a magnificent butterfly, whose life is only two weeks. – Dr.SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com

Indigo shadows encourage tantalizing gossip in an orchard, while a tall redwood throws poems on the forest floor. The nightlife of trees. – Dr.SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com

He stood in stillness in an ancient grove of redwood trees, waiting for a wandering poem to land on him. – Dr.SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com

There’s a beach whose waves lap near an ancient grove of redwoods—during a full moon, it throws up wishing shells. Let them lie, he told me. – Dr.SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com

Do behold the king in his glory, King Sequoia. Behold! Behold! seems all I can say…. Well may I fast, not from bread but from business, bookmaking, duty doing & other trifles…. I’m in the woods woods woods, & they are in mee-ee-ee…. I wish I were wilder & so bless Sequoia I will be. – John Muir, from a letter to Jeanne C. Carr, circa autumn 1870, ©1984 Muir-H

You are yourself a Sequoia…. Stop and get acquainted with your big brethren. – John Muir to Ralph Waldo Emerson, May 1871