Never Ending

This morning, I was looking at some of the photos I took when Marg and I visited the cottage in Northern Ontario on the August long weekend.  One of my favorite shots was of a small branch of a jack pine overhanging the shoreline.  This little branch, complete with an unopened cone and some fresh green needles, with the calm lake water in the background, gives me a feeling of peace.

The young leaves sustain the parent tree, allowing it to grow and flourish for a long time.  The cones of the jack pine are tightly sealed by resin and remain on the tree for as long as 25 years. The cones open usually only when subjected to fire.  So, even if the parent tree should grow old and die, its progeny will carry on, each exhibiting the basic characteristics of the parent.  This is the encouraging part of the never-ending cycle of life and death.