Things worth saving

Like an old oak tree in the foothills of the San Gabriels

Nov 09, 2023

A few days a week I take a hike at a nearby park called Deukmejian Wilderness Park. I was told the namesake of the park was a bit of a Trump-type character from LA history which is something I refuse to acknowledge except to say, oh well. It is my favorite place to walk where I feel safe enough to process the various emotional storms that have washed over me in smoggy waves since moving to this sprawling dystopia. I have plodded, stomped, and emotionally spiraled my way up and down those hills more times than I can count.

a color pencil study of the McFall Oak tree for a new painting

At the beginning of the trail that goes into the canyon that leads up to Mount Lukens is a large oak tree. Its leaves are dark green, almost black in a certain light, with branches that reach up high and then fall back to the ground, heavy with history. It is 150 years old, older than anyone we know. Sometimes I wish I was a tree so I could sit back, smugly watching people speed by knowing that none of it matters quite as much as they think it does.

In 2009 firefighters fought to save this tree, known as the McFall Oak, from the Station Fire that ravaged much of northern Los Angeles County. When I go hiking I can still see charred wood underneath the new chaparral growth. I wasn’t here then and can’t imagine what the hills looked aflame, or in the aftermath covered in black charcoal.

A color pencil study of the tree for a new painting

When I first learned that humans had risked their lives to save a tree amidst that carnage I was surprised and moved. Why is an old tree, this old tree worth saving? Sure, it’s large, majestic, and radiates a calming presence, as trees often do.

In saving it, regardless of their individual motivations, the brave firefighters have given the tree even more significance. It stands now as much a testament to nature as it is a monument to the good in humans. Evidence that we can fight for those who have no ability to fight for themselves and win. It is a symbol of our reverence for nature and the value of all life, human or otherwise, and our ability to triumph in the face of disaster.

It is hard not to think of the many innocents being killed across the globe right now in the many wars that we do and don’t know about. The people and children who are in the wrong place at the wrong time to live a peaceful life. If you’re feeling lost in all of it, maybe this tree can serve as a reminder of the power we all have to make miracles for those less fortunate, lifting ourselves up in the process.

What do you want to save for yourself, or future generations? How far would you go, and how much would you risk to do so?

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