From Aberdeen, Washington, Melissa and David Moore invited us to their campsite at Lake Cushman Park. My father and David's father were brothers. We're not sure how long its been since we met. We do know it has been over 60 years. That black ball of fur is Toby.
Our ancestry connects us, but we found we have a lot in common, love of nature and books, and pets. For instance, we both were familiar with the small house movement. David went to see one of those 124 square foot places, but that was a bit too small. He built this neat cabin where he and his wife can get out of the rain and the confines of their small trailer and sit in a leisure chair and read, enjoy a snooze like a mini living room. A small footprint in the middle of a rainforest.
A towering alder forest behind them leads to a delightful creek.
A fallen alder stretches across the spongy duff of mosses and dead leaves. I estimated its height at 70 feet.
Two of them provide a bench at the side of the creek, David's favorite spot. The quiet, burbling water, cool temperature, a personal haven.
Melissa has her own favored place that looks upon her private "beach".
Of course, this creek roars and rises and gushes through this woods in winter.
The mosses remind us of Louisiana.
They eat into every crevice.
David pointed out to us that this property was once an old growth forest. Average rain here is 100 inches and this is known as the dry side of the Olympic Penninsula. Huge stumps are a reminder of the lust for timber. The area was clear cut years and years ago. Like the Louisiana cypress, men in their folly cut every giant tree.
On this particular stump, he pointed out, you can see where the logger cut a crevice and inserted a shelf to stand on while sawing the tree down, something hard to contemplate. It was most likely a dangerous business to be a sawyer.
This forest may never be the same again, but with people like Melissa and David, in private lots and ownership, it is unlikely to fall to the axe and saws again, though it is questionable if it will ever regrow those giant trees. (I forgot to ask what they were. Possibly redwoods.) But, mother nature, if given the chance...who knows? In the meantime, we can all enjoy the beauty and appreciate nature.
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