They are singing here now . . .

This is the tree out the patio door of our room at Asilomar's Windward building

where I spent the end of last week at the Yuki Teikei Haiku Retreat.

Every time I looked at this tree, I wanted to sketch it. 
I was sure this simple treat for myself 
could be fitted in somehow. Alas, not true. 
So I have just now run it through

Picasa's "HDRish" filter. The result emphasizes 

what I liked about the way this tree curves.

There is an ongoing program at Asilomar 

to develop cultivars of the native trees

which have been losing the battle against disease,

notably the white pine blister rust.

The work to save an example of the native landscape 

(now gone from most of California's Pacific Coast)

is ongoing here on many different fronts.

For The Future

Planting trees early in spring,
we make a place for birds to sing
in time to come. How do we know?
They are singing here now.
There is no other guarantee
that singing will ever be.

Wendell Berry

Collected Poems, 1957-1982, 

North Point Press, New York, 1985.