Against Forgetting
![issue of Northwest Review.](/journal/50/02/nina-montenegro/cover%20image_Nina_againstforgetting_highres_montenegro_hu65ec6dd136e0be448a3b8e5e182a4e63_8722494_300x0_resize_q100_box.jpg)
I encountered an enormous tree stump on Orcas Island (likely a Doug Fir) and tenderly took a rubbing with a wax crayon. I had always marveled at the similarity between the rings of a tree and the rings of our human fingerprints, but I was shocked to see the rings actually align when I took an inked fingerprint and enlarged it to the scale of the tree rings. What resulted was a harmonious depiction of humanity’s kinship (and belonging) with nature.