Single pine tree a sign of hope amid devastation in Japanese city

[AsahinaKimi]

Rikuzentakata, Japan (CNN) -- More than a month after Japan's killer tsunami struck, there's not much standing in Rikuzentakata, and even fewer things still alive.

But across a shattered bridge and among the scattered concrete shells and piles of debris, there's a surprising sight along the tsunami-battered coast -- a single towering pine tree.

It's the last surviving one in what was once a sprawling grove of more than 70,000 that towered above the white sandy shore and made it a popular tourist destination.

They were planted along the shore some 300 years ago by villagers to shelter them from winds, waves and erosion from Pacific storms that regularly crash to shore.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/16/japan.tree.hope/

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"Tree is a symbol of defiance and a symbol of hope.."
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[Liberal_in_LA]

1. wonder how it withstood the waters.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. wonder how it withstood the waters.

[alphafemale]

3. Can a tree feel sorrow and greive?

Someone plant some baby trees around that tree immediately...dammitt

[BlancheSplanchnik]

4. Wow! That's a powerful picture.

That reminds me of another similar thing...

At Ground Zero in New York City, there is a Cross, with a cloth draped over the arms...made of METAL! It's a peice of steel beam bracing, and some sheet of metal somehow got melted over it.

It's amazing....and since I'm not a Christian, what I believe is that that cross is a coalescence of Energy coming from the people. Since we are a largely Judeo-Christian culture, it makes sense that would be the "flavor" of the cries that were going out to the Universe.

while in Japan, the symbolism of the Pine is a strong cultural shared reverence..... so it makes sense to me that the Energy of the people in that culture would capture something like this.....