A Reminder of Home

When I made the long trip to Princeton in the fall of 1969 from the San Francisco Bay Area, I felt very out of place as a Californian and a woman. I was thrilled to find a small redwood tree near Prospect. It was my one link to home, and I made a point of walking there every day to and from my room in Pyne Hall. I was distraught when it subsequently lost its needles and was evidently dying — to be followed by new needles in the spring. Who knew there was a deciduous redwood?

When I visited Princeton for She Roars in the fall of 2018, I stopped by to see my redwood. It continues to thrive. Although there are many beautiful trees at Princeton, including those magnolias in Pyne Courtyard, and the dawn redwood is a very common tree outside of California, this one will always be special.

Editor’s note: Nancy Cosentino w’56 also answered PAW’s April 8 call for stories about campus trees, highlighting a weeping beech near Blair Arch.