In the Valley of the Giants

Way out on the Western edge of the United States of America, a great many miles from the hustle and bustle of city life,  is a valley full of giants.  These giants are not the scary type;  they will not chase you or grind your bones to make their bread.  Instead, the giants of the Pacific Northwest Rain Forest stand tall and proud, their very tip tops reaching through the fog and mist that provides the moisture which allows these giants to grow so big and strong. 

(The picture above is the largest Douglas Fir in the World, standing 302 feet tall and stretching 40 feet around!  Below is the Worlds Largest Sitka Spruce, measuring almost 59 feet in circumference, standing 191 feet tall and estimated to be over 1000 years old!)

In this same foggy world happily lived a man and his wife.  The man was brave, adventurous and strong and his wife was gentle, sweet and the fairest in the land. (HEY!  This is my story.  I can tell it how I want!)  To celebrate the anniversary of the day the couple had joined their lives in marriage, the man and his wife traveled, in their horseless carriage,  a few hours north to the land of the giants.  

The couple was much beloved (YES they were!- stop interrupting!) to all who knew them.  Even the smallest squirrel and the lowliest slug came out to greet them and bid them a good day as they strolled through the deep woods inhabited by the giants.

The man and his lovely wife so enjoyed these deep woods, contented with the drip of fog and the fresh breeze blowing through the forest.  The pleasant couple tried to stay on the trails so as not to hurt the fragile plant growth under their shoes, but alas, from time to time the trails through the wood were very overgrown with salmonberry plants and the trail became more of a creek than an actual trail.

Sometimes they would pause and look up in wonder.   "What a pretty tree this one is!"  "Look at how big this guy is.  He must be 300 years old if he's a day!"  Even as they spoke, the tree's were busy growing another ring taller and wider.  The moss was busy covering the tree's and the ferns were busy stretching their fiddleheads to the sky.  The man and his wife were delighted at all the wonder around them.

(This tree is a Western Red Cedar - the trunk measures 63 feet around and this hollow tree stands 174 feet tall!  Still living, but hollow, you can stand inside the trunk!)

Now that the wonderful couple had met three of the six giants that lived in the valley, giants who were as old as the earth itself, and had found that the giants were not fierce and savage, but gentle and kind, it was time to get out of the woods and rest a bit.  So the two set of for the castle....

and there they spent a pleasant evening, breaking bread and warming themselves with a magic brown potion known as Starbucks, surrounded on all sides by the gentle giants of the wood.   

And then, this most beloved couple lived happily ever after....