The Earth Rhythms gang recently held a gratitude gathering for an old dying tree that the Park Department had decided to chop in the name of safety.
In case you don’t know the story, the group a few weeks ago honored the doomed tree with song, tokens of gratitude and yoga poses, noting that trees are “metaphors for the process of life …”
Some thought it silly, others, myself included, felt it was a sweet tribute—a peaceful protest of pruning by city arborists.
Even those who dismissed the ceremony as utterly gratuitous, however, might find the story’s final chapter warm-n-fuzzy:
The tree met its end at the blade of a chainsaw or some such, and, afterward, artist Julia Schloss painted a beautiful butterfly on the remaining stump.
But — oh dear — Park Department protocol is to return a couple weeks after the initial tree cutting to ground-down the stump. So, sadly, the butterfly too, returns to dust, right?
But rather than disregarding the butterfly art, the Park Department employee charged with turning the stump to sawdust carefully sawed off the butterfly art and presented it to the Bath House gallery before finishing off the remaining tree stump.
Earth Rhythms’ Amy Martin says Earth Rhythms will donate a cast-iron base to the Bath House so an artist can turn the piece into a table with a colorful wooden butterfly top. She adds that the finished product will be displayed at the upcoming Festival of Independent Theaters at the Bath House Cultural Center.
“Thank you, Park Department,” she notes. “You did good!”