There is much to celebrate in the story of trees and people, in kinship together at a place I know fondly as Cypress Lawn Arboretum. Over the past five years, the growing narrative of one species – Hesperocyparis macrocarpa – as the namesake plant of our cherished cemetery, has been evolving in a number of profound ways. In this season of harvest and the turning of a new leaf – literally! – it is important to pause, for a moment of reflection on the many celebrations we’ve shared along the way. The following words and images seek to highlight a few celebratory moments we’ve experienced in the Cypress Lawn Arboretum story over the past year, with a special connection to the tree that names the place – Hesperocyparis macrocarpa.
In the autumn of 2023, and still on display today in the rooms adjoining the main lobby of Cypress Lawn’s offices at 1370 El Camino Real, a physical exhibit of the Monterey Cypress story has been curated for visitors to see. While the virtual “Dancing on the Brink of the World” multimedia showcase lives on here in the blog series you are now reading, a present space to experience the global narrative of this one fascinating species is worth celebrating! 
Photos of cypresses from all around the world are part of the exhibit, including images of trees from the ancient stands of Point Lobos, on to the herbarium collections of Kew Gardens, to the spectacular cultural examples of cypress plantings alive today throughout the Commonwealth and especially in the coastal windbreaks of New Zealand and the memorial Avenues of Honour in Australia. And of course, the exhibit is highlighted by photographs of our very own cypresses, individuals young and old that define the living collections of Cypress Lawn Arboretum.
Among some of the largest and oldest specimen cypresses on the grounds of the Arboretum, a novel event this past September brought together many from the professional community of arborists that have come to know Cypress Lawn as an outdoor learning space and rich opportunity for immersive education in recent years; this event we call CypressFest!
In what will grow each September as an annual educational and competitive event, CypressFest was the first ever tree climbing competition in the Western Chapter of ISA to be hosted at an old cemetery. A century-old stand of Monterey cypresses were brought to life with a new layer of meaning, in which the five events of a sanctioned TCC – speed ascent, belayed speed climb, aerial rescue, throwline, and the work climb – were hosted.
As an introductory learning program for “how to compete” in larger competitions down the road, CypressFest will grow on as a great opportunity for experienced professional tree climbing arborists to branch out in the development of their own skills, into the realm of competitive tree climbing.
Beyond this, the first annual CypressFest also featured a full day of indoor and outdoor lectures, focused on skills and safety of the arboriculture professional industry. Leading practitioners and educators from throughout the Western Chapter taught a variety of seminars and workshops as a meaningful component of the program. The historic venue of Abbey Chapel served as our indoor classroom, while a 125-year old Monterey cypress out on the grounds of Olivet became an outdoor educational center for all attendees. Embracing the assets of Cypress Lawn, from funeral spaces being utilized as tree care classrooms and on to memorial trees themselves as immersive learning opportunities out in the landscape, is a key element of our evolving Arboretum mission and vision.
Cypress Lawn is now growing as a meaningful place of continued education for the professional arborist industry. The Western Chapter of ISA serves the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii. Providing educational events, both indoors and outdoors here at Cypress Lawn Arboretum, is a new and significant way for us to serve, to reimagine the purpose of our memorial park. Regional conferences, seminars, workshops, and special events like CypressFest, will continue to be offered to arborists throughout WCISA in the seasons to come. Hopefully, the CypressFest story is still just beginning, and other interest groups and professions – perhaps ornithologists, ecologists, historians, artists and more – may also be brought into the purpose of our cemetery as a place for learning.
All the while throughout CypressFest, the spirit of learning and growing together added a layer of fun and celebratory connection to the event. The greatest lesson of all, perhaps, is that gathering for the purpose of fostering our shared development is joyful! When a cemetery can be embraced as a place of joy and knowledge, what else might we imagine it could be? Now that is a feeling worth celebrating!
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In this same spirit, the autumnal tradition that is now shared throughout the City of Colma will bring a vibrant layer of life in this fifth annual gathering at our meaningful place of trees – this, of course, is Arboretum Day!
I still remember our first one, our first Arboretum Day planting, five years ago on November 18th of 2020. Back then, we were in the heart of the pandemic, and community celebrations were not an option – we could not gather and share and make memories in person. Nonetheless, a small group of colleagues came together that day and planted one special Monterey cypress that I raised myself from seed and watched emerge in life over the past years. The first Arboretum Day cypress planting was witnessed by the community over a live streamed video, though very few were physically in attendance.
The story of that one tree will continue to grow, beyond even its own life. Unfortunately, during a historic October heat wave this past month, our foundational tree passed away suddenly. Its life will be celebrated with a special ceremony at this year’s event, including a replacement planting to commemorate a journey five years growing, and ever branching out. Memorial artifacts of its rings will also be shared with attendees of this community tree planting celebration.
The rings of a tree’s life, even one lost too soon, tell a powerful story worth celebrating. To witness the life of a wooden one, a single humble ring layered upon the next, is to experience a narrative woven across time, season by season. The central pith, that primary branch at the heart of it all, is still there to see; the young tree lives within the old, in a way. Its story is there to behold, if you only give it your attention.
There is a rich metaphor in this, in the way a tree lives. People too, grow and evolve, but even amongst the oldest of us, there is a young being within that knew a time of childhood, a time of curiosity and growth and change. Our rings layer on in a different way, but the story of our age and evolution as humans still draws upon a spirit of learning and tradition across the seasons. What might we carry from the message of a tree’s rings, the wisdom in the wood?
It is in this very spirit that I call upon you to celebrate the meaning of Arboretum Day in your own life, in your own way. Take time to reflect, to remember your many seasons, to keep growing towards the light with the lessons layered in your hidden rings of change. Every tree, every person, every being is worth celebrating in this life; and you are invited.
