Branch Puller

Walking through Tompkins Square Park last night, I saw this man pulling on the branch of the tree used as a Wishing Tree recently:

Pulling on a branch.

He wasn't pulling hard, just lightly.

After the demise of the gimpy elm, East Villagers don't want to take any chances!

#eastvillage #elm #tompkinssquarepark #wishingtree

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!