Place Where You Live:

Santa Cruz, California

Nestled along the beach and blanketed by the redwoods, lies my hometown of Santa Cruz, California. I spent the first 18 years of life in the ocean and up in the trees. We lived right on the beach and sand between my toes and the sweet salty taste of the ocean mist holds a nostalgic place in my mind. When I turned 5 I began to explore the redwoods on my own, taking adventurous journeys out from the backyard of our new house. My calloused feet would hug the bark as I scampered up the branches, climbing nimble as a monkey.
There is something powerful about sitting perched atop a hundred plus foot majestic redwood and peering out over the curving bay. I would watch the sets roll in and bash the pilings of the pier and the surf wall of the boardwalk. For me the great redwoods possess a sense of power, rooted in the ground and shooting up into the sky for hundreds of feet. The ocean’s immensity and its relentless waves pound the beach presenting a harmonious beauty. I have always felt at home and safe amongst the redwood trees, as if the towering giants were protecting me from the concrete world that surrounded. I spent the last two years working and living amidst the redwoods, returning to them after a few years in the of Southern California. That sense of safety and peace still rings true for me as I get older, the magic was not just my childhood imagination. My soul will always lie within the heartwood of the California Redwoods.