The redwoods hold a special place in my heart. Thousands of people, every year, head to California to see these awesome trees. I was lucky enough to grow up near them, and every time I drive south to visit my childhood home, I pass through them. I think I feel the same wonderment and awe every time I see them. What's it like to stand amongst giant Sequoias? I think the following poem sums it up quite nicely. I personally substitute "mother nature" in reference to the "creator", but whatever your beliefs, these trees will stir in you a spiritual awakening. :-)

The Redwoods

Here, sown by the Creator's hand,
In serried ranks, the Redwoods stand;
No other clime is honored so.
No other lands their glory know.

The greatest of Earth's living forms,
Tall conquerors that laugh at storms;
Their challenge still unanswered rings,
Through fifty centuries of kings.

The nations that with them were young,
Rich empires, with their forts far-flung,
Lie buried now--their splendor gone;
But these proud monarchs still live on.

So shall they live, when ends our day,
When our crude citadels decay;
For brief the years alloted man,
But infinite perennials span.

This is their temple, vaulted high,
And here we pause with reverent eye,
With silent tongue and awe-struck soul,
For here we sense life's proper goal:

To be like these, straight, true and fine,
To make our world, like theirs, a shrine,
Sink down, Oh, traveller, on your knees,
God stands before you in these trees.

- Joseph B. Strauss