My town is kind of weird. It’s like the melting pot of the mountains/southern area. A lot of progressive people, a lot of art a lot of opinions. Downtown is thriving and full of culture and different people. Artists and musicians galore. I love it. I didn’t really appreciate it until I moved away. Now that I’m back I feel like I just got back with an old boyfriend. Now i appreciate it here so much more.
In the middle of downtown was this single, solitary tree and a patch of green grass. The city wanted to cut it down to expand something or other. This lady, I don’t even know her name, dread locked and in earthy clothes sat on that patch of grass every day protesting the cutting down of the tree. She felt a connection to it and sat there, rain or shine, under her tree, getting people to sign a petition to keep the tree. It was a lovely tree. She’d tell people the tree had an old soul and deserved to continue thriving. She sat there everyday for a year. A lot of people made fun of her, a lot of people thought she was crazy and this was pointless.
I never really kept up with the story. I walked by her a few times and said hey and signed her petition but that was about it. The other day, Daisy, Ryan and I were walking around downtown and Ryan said, ” Hey, it looks like she saved her tree.” And there it was. Alone, beautiful and saved.
What if we all cherished and fought for something so alone and forgotten?
You & Me 