Thursday, March 17, 2011

A Tiny But Memorable Moment

There have been many celebrations and remembrances and convocations.  

Concerts have been held.  


T-shirts have been printed
for races


for ceremonies with the President

and for those concerts

The events have been large and well-attended and recorded for posterity on video and still cameras alike.  Attendees arrived early to secure seats.  Microphones were used.  Sometimes there was a JumboTron.  There were always some tears and there were always some smiles and some of the faces began to look familiar.  

Today was something different.


Without much publicity, without any fanfare, 2 film makers from Maui dropped by Northwest Community Park this morning.  They are driving across the southern part of America, planting native trees and wishes written on pieces of a brown paper grocery bag they thoughtfully provide. 
The hope is that the tree and the wishes will both flourish and grow.

They brought with them the velvet mesquite sitting forlornly in its hole up there.
Our Parks and Rec Arborist smiled broadly

as the Master Gardener in me wondered why he had not scored the root ball.  Laughing aloud, he explained that there were no roots circling the edges and that he had had experience with my ilk before and appreciated the love we showed for growing things. 

I was abashed but not convinced.  On the other hand, of all the trees I've planted myself here in the desert, only one has survived.  
Perhaps I'd better take some lessons from this guy?

Plant A Wish also brought a mock-up of the permanent marker which will be placed nearby.

There was an amplifier
but Supervisor Ann Day didn't need it as she shared her thoughts about mesquite trees and Tucson and healing.  

Gabe's mother planted our wishes


and then the golden shovels


got to work.


This photo shows that it is nearly impossible to use a shovel while balancing on a walker.

The whole event lasted less than an hour.
There was no brouhaha.
There was one reporter from the neighborhood's free newspaper.  He had a telephoto lens and a notebook.   He did not have a network feed.

The tree was in the ground and the sun was announcing itself with authority and it was time to go. 

I stopped to say "Hi" to Christina on my way past her tree.



9 comments:

  1. What a nice event, and what a nice day you had for it! The gods were smiling down, it's clear. xoxoxo

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  2. I've never heard of a plant a wish, but my goodness, so lovely! I've planted a tree in honor of someone but never thought of putting a wish with it. I will do this from now on. We have a tree that recently died in our front yard (probably didn't help that my five year-old decided to hang on it one day and it wasn't that big of a tree in the first place) that needs to be replaced. When we replace it this spring, I will most definitely plant a wish with it.


    Megan xxx

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  3. It was peaceful and lovely and loving and my wish, Christina's wish, for Peace & Justice, needs to be planted deep in the soil... it's not doing all that well up here in the air.
    a/b

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  4. Thanks for reporting this event. These are the kind of things I learn from you that I don't see in the newspapers or on TV. I enjoy learning about them because it's another Tucson healing event. Keep this up and I'm going to decide Tucson is a wonderful place to live. Given the low opinion I have of the state of Arizona these days, it has been refreshing to see Tucson in action.

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  5. Plant a wish. What a wonderful concept.

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  6. Oh a/b,
    What a beautiful simple thing.

    I find myself assuming you're talking the political here, and I don't know if I should.
    "it's not doing all that well up here in the air"
    I'll leave my comments re: the political off for now. Enough to say I'm scared by what is happening in our state govt. and trying to figure out what to do.

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  7. Thank you for inviting us to join you today. It's a wonderful idea, planting a wish. Keep your Master's eye on the roots and never, ever just mind your own business.

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  8. These are the good things. The memorable things.

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