Notes on a Writing Life 48
May 14 2023
Dear All,
Last year I was in London, celebrating my birthday among lilac, rhododendrons and daffodils and the ancient trees of Hampstead Heath; this year I am in Key West for my ‘solar return’ in among the royal poincianas and flowering frangipani, with the mocking-birds and feral chickens courting all around.
My mind is on trees in cities and how they are treated: this month a favorite tree on a Key West street was cut down only days after a friend and I walked and stood marveling in its deep shade, and she took a photograph. Walking under it, you could feel the temperature drop several degrees. The street was cool. Now there is just a stump – no shade, no bird habitat, no negative ions. Just a space for someone to build an air-conditioned box. Nearer even to home, there are permits out for three of our magnificent royal poincianas to be destroyed – the icon of Key West, they are putting out their flaming blossoms and people are afraid that they will drop their scarlet confetti on their cars, I suppose. At a time when shade is so vital in our over-heated town, when birds and insects are already depleted, when we need these trees to watch over us – destruction, in the name of progress. Are they crazy?
A paraphrased quotation from William Blake sticks in my mind: to some, a tree is just a green thing that stands in the way.
I love the month of May, though, wherever I am. My memories of birthdays go back – to a wet day when I turned eight and my father, undaunted by rain, took me and my school friends on a damp picnic, made a camp fire, and we cooked sausages. And to last year, when so many of my family and friends gathered in London to celebrate.
This year, I’ll be on the beach here, early, before the crowds appear. Perhaps I’ll see the ospreys in their nest on a high pole, perhaps a swarm of leaping fish, perhaps the heron fishing for his breakfast. And at night, Venus bright and near to encourage me for the coming year.
The photo was taken last week on a friend’s boat as we headed for an uninhabited island at sunset - another good adventure…
Happy Birthday all earth-loving Taureans!
Affectionately, Ros