Today our country marks its two hundred and thirty third birthday. In some ways, two hundred and thirty three years seems like a very long time, especially in comparison to the surprisingly short life expectancy of its citizens. A mere eleven generations ago, more or less...

In perspective: consider a particular Sequoia tree (Sequoiadendron giganteum) living not far from Reno, patriotically named, General Sherman. This mighty conifer is thought to be some 2700 years old, a plant, still living, eleven times older than our nation. Or consider another living neighbor, Methuselah, the oldest known living Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva), whose germination is now estimated to have been 2832 years before the birth of Christianity. (An even older Bristlecone, named Prometheus, was cut down in Nevada, on Wheeler Peak in 1964, ironically, to see how old it was. Not until the tree had been killed was it discovered to be the oldest known Bristlecone in the world, its rings revealing 4,844 years.) Or consider the clonal creosote rings of the Mojave desert just to our south: the oldest rings have been forming since the last ice age, some 11,000 years ago. And consider Pando, the Quacking Aspen in Utah (Populus tremuloides) whose root system is estimated to be up to 80,000 years old!

What can we learn from all these old timers in a country so young?