A THOUSAND-YEAR PINE 



Trees, like people, struggle for exist- 

 ence, and an aged tree, like an aged 

 person, has not only a striking appear- 

 ance, but an interesting biography. I 

 have read the autobiographies of 

 many century-old trees, and have 

 found their life-stories strange and 

 impressive. The yearly growth, or an- 

 nual ring of wood with which trees en- 

 velop themselves, is embossed with so 

 many of their experiences that this 

 annual ring of growth literally forms 

 an autobiographic diary of the tree's 

 life. 



I wanted to read Old Pine's auto- 

 biography. A veteran pine that had 

 stood on the southern Rockies and 

 struggled and triumphed through the 

 changing seasons of hundreds of years 

 must contain a rare life-story. From 

 7 



