Name Change

While looking at the picture used in Groovy Arty People, two things occurred to me.

1) Now that the gimpy elm is gone, the Parks Department workers should take up the cobblestones that once surrounded it, and rebuild the circle to just surround the healthy elm.

Cobblestones encircling… nothing.

There's no sense in living in the past, right?

2) The name "bendy tree" isn't right. I'm going to call it the "gimpy elm" from now on, which is more descriptive, I think. It was an elm, after all!

It Seems So Long Ago

Recently, as I passed through Tompkins Square Park, I overheard some people talking. The older person (the parent?) pointed out to the younger person (her child?) that the bendy tree was gone.

"Oh!" she said. "This is the first time I've been here since it's been gone. (Pause.) It looks weird now. (Pause.) I have to say, I think it looks better".

Teenagers! What're ya gonna do?

Ob La Di Ob La Da

Another sunny day in Tompkins Square Park, in the East Village.

Elm tree and former elm tree.

Dendrolatry

If there's one thing East Villagers love, it's dendrolatry: the worship of trees! They love the trees, and they love their love of the trees. And they love themselves!

This past Sunday, there were two dendrolatral events in Tompkins Square Park. One was called The Wishing Tree. (I think that's what it was called.) The idea was to write down a wish on a piece of paper and hang it with string on the very long branch of the tree pictured here:

Hanging paper on a really long tree branch.

The idea is that the tree spirit will grant the wish. I think that's the idea. What else could it be?!

The other dendrolatrous event was on the other side of the fence behind the tree above. At this one, people gathered for a memorial for the bendy tree.

Bendy tree be with you!

There was even a minister (a dendrolatrist minister?) named Reverend Billy, who delivered a eulogy, before others led an animist ceremony praising the four directions and the physical phenomena associated with them. It reminded me of Avatar: The Last Airbender! (Not the movie, which I didn't like, but the Nickelodeon TV show.)

Great stuff! Brought to life right here in the East Village!

Fire Wood

What happens to the trees that get cut down in the East Village? Some people think they get turned into logs for fire places:

Storing up for a cold winter.

This tree in Tompkins Square Park will provide plenty of warmth for someone:

The bendy tree will provide many crooked logs.

As the Twig is Bent…

…so grows the tree.

This tree in Tompkins Square Park is slated for removal. You can tell from the barricades and red caution tape surrounding it.

I don't know what they're waiting for. If they decided it's unsafe, they should have cut it down right away.

East Villagers don't like unsafe conditions!