Moreton Bay Fig, Treasury Gardens
Allegedly it's Valentine's Day, that most insidious of Hallmark Holidays designed to make those in love feel wonderful and those who are not feel completely inadequate. Why anybody would want to celebrate a feast day of some nondescript-alleged-Christian martyr is beyond me, but there are a lot of people making a lot of money out of soppy sentiments.
The most I will get on Valentines Day is a damp peck on the cheek from Pinochet after training tonight. Hmmm, sweaty, tuna kisses - dead romantic.
Rather than writing about love, I'm going to write about something I love.
And I love this tree.
This huge Moreton Bay Fig that sits outside of the Victorian Parliament and it looks like it has done for decades.
It's huge.
You want to climb it. I still want to climb up it and I'm over 40.
Hundreds of possums must live in its branches. There is a slight scent of excrement about it.
It provides shade in summer. How cool and useful is that?
It's not like the nearby elms which all have metal and plastic collars around them to stop the possums climbing up it - this one is too big for that. The trunk must be a few meters in diameter.
I love the sense of continuity and permanence provided by this tree. The feeling of protection that you feel as you walk by it.
This tree has outlived generations. It will hopefully out live me.
You can't say that about much these days.
And as for Valentines Day.
Well, Billy Bragg says it all.
"designed to make those in love feel wonderful and those who are not feel completely inadequate."
ReplyDeleteI may be in love, but I *hate* Valentine's Day - commercialised crap that is designed for EVERYONE to feel either resentfully obliged to put up with being ripped off, or sad not to receive anything. Hate the day!