11/12/2025
This week brought a moment of quiet grief on the land. A magnificent Ponderosa Pine that had stood at the edge of the meadow for more than 200 years had to be felled.
Years of hotter temperatures and less rainfall weakened its vitality and left it vulnerable to the Western Pine Beetle, a native insect now thriving in a warming climate. Once a tree’s natural defenses are lowered, beetles burrow beneath the bark and interrupt the flow of water and nutrients until the tree’s life quietly ends.
It is painful to witness loss in beings that have weathered centuries of storms, deep snows, and human change. Yet in The Forest, we are reminded that endings are part of the living world. Death nourishes new life, and every transformation carries the story forward.
The wood from this pine will be milled and used here, allowing its strength and spirit to live on as part of the place it helped sustain.
🌿 Grief is part of love, and everything that returns feeds what comes next.
