EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

And To Nature We Return...

Gravestone and Lenga Old-Growth Tree (Nothofagus pumilio)
Puyehue National Park, Chile

Explanation:  With deep reverence and veneration, I present this week's picture.  It is a scene I happened upon while hiking the steep forest trails of Puyehue National Park in the Andes Mountains of Chile.  

Here, I encountered a huge and ancient tree -- literally covered with life of all kinds, including climbers, ferns, lichens, epiphytes -- that itself was giving life and diversity to the forest.

But beyond the old-growth tree sat a modest stone, with a cross and words carved into its face and surrounded by a small fence.  

This was a superb tribute to, and the final resting place of, someone I never knew, but nonetheless I was moved deeply by the sentiment and the beauty of the location.

The words, in Spanish, read:  

Aqui yacen las cenizas del que fuera a nuestro querido hijo, hermano, esposo y amiga Yuri Antonio Cisternas Orellana (b. 23 Aug 1967, d. 01 Aug 1996).

Como joven profesional forestal fue un enamorado de la naturaleza que hoy la cobija eternamente Descansa en paz.

Translated to English: 

Here lies the ashes of our dear son, brother, husband and friend Yuri Antonio Cisternas Orellana (b. 23 Aug 1967, d. 01 Aug 1996).

As a young forest professional [he] was enamored with the nature that today blankets [him] eternally. Rest in peace.

What more fitting location could there but to put to rest one whose life was the forest and its conservation?  

To nature ... we all return.  Let us treat her well while we are still here.