Think about the fact that when the Incan Empire ruled Peru, this tree was a sapling. So when Columbus reached the Americas some 528 years ago, this tree was standing quietly in the forest. When the Declaration of Independence was being signed in 1776, this tree was just one of many in the jungle. When World War Two was playing out and the earth was in chaos, this tree was bulking out and becoming a giant. How many creatures have lived on it's branches over the centuries? On any given day you'll find monkeys, birds, moss/lichen, snakes, lizards, spiders, ants, and so many others. Up on top the branches are decorated with bromeliads, orchids, cactus, and all manner of strange flora that you'll never see on the jungle floor. She truly is what the tribes call her: Mother of the Forest. It is not just the size that is baffling, but the meaning. I think we've lost that kind of thought. What is a river? Is it just water flowing over rocks? Or is it the salmon and the bears and the clouds and rain as well? What is a giant tree in the Amazon? Is it just a huge growth of wood, or is it the sum of all the life that it has sheltered for the centuries it has lived?