Hollow

I'm no photographer, and it's a shame, because I'd give just about anything for some really good pictures(the kind that do justice,) of the amazing ironies I saw in these Redwoods. This picture is taken standing inside what should be the trunk of a redwood probably near 200 feet tall. It was burned through in a fire. Think it died? Nope. It's funny, cause I always refer to the insides of us staying the course, the core of us as the part that makes it when our physical selves are falling apart. But I looked at these trees, these enormous peaceful giants who had completely lost the insides of their foundations, and I was swept away with the symbolism. I look at Tieran, and I think... You know, it's just his shell we're seeing. He has been emptied out so much. His trunk has had every bit of life burned out by fear and hurt. But under the ground of this wild freak of nature (the tree that is, not my son) are these gigantic strong roots, and they are sending water past the first 50-60 feet of rotten wood, right on up to the new shoots and branches (new being still much older than I am!). It is so strong, and you would never guess it because you can waltz right in and have a picnic in the hollowed out place of its core. I will try to hold on to this picture. It isn't enough to just say troubled kids have tough exteriors for survivor's sake. They don't just have challenging behaviors covering a soft strong inside. They have been hollowed. Burnt. Left to nature's cruelties. But there are roots there somewhere. And there are those of willing to send the water the long way 'round... Hoping that it might reach some new shoots.