Monday 30, April 2018
Two big events happened.
One was the tree pruning in front of our house, the second was my aunt’s birthday.
When we first moved in, we were told about the enormous tree in front of the house. It’s apparently four or five hundred years old and, as such, it’s protected – it can’t be chopped down. However, its branches covered a lot of airspace – perhaps four or five houses wide, taller than our four storey house, and some branches reaching to the middle of the busy road.
The tree is protected but so are humans and buildings, and it was clear that those branches would soon be poking someone’s eye out or creeping into the rain gutters and roofs. It’s been three years and the tree had remained as is. We grew to love watching it bud, flower, and then dwindle during that time. During the summer, the leaves were so resplendent that we couldn’t see across the road any more. This was offset by this flat never becoming too warm during hot days.
Late last week, we noticed that there were some Parking Supension notices and we wondered if our tree’s time had come. A couple of days passed. On Saturday morning, we noticed three small trucks parked outside and a police line tape at the middle of the road to stop traffic on our side. Ominous.
We expected that one to two meters of each branch would be pruned. What happened felt like slaughter. The very first branch was cut back to just a stick. Every branch and twig with leaves was gone. And so it continued. At the half way point we thought perhaps they’d leave a canopy but the men climbed higher and higher and within a few hours the tree was a ‘skellington.’
Those lovely branches and leaves gone and I have to confess I felt bereft. Friends assured me it will grow back but I’m certain that hundreds of years of growth won’t be replaced in weeks and I don’t expect to see leaves this season. Then, if I do, I shall consider them gifts. It will grow back for sure but a shadow of its former self.
No more birds, although the butchers left two nests – thank you. And thanks (no thanks) to damaging the palm trees that have been there for more than a hundred years, thanks to Loddiges.
Here’s to new beginnings!
On Sunday, I went to my aunt’s birthday party – she is now 98! The oldest family member I have heard of. Well done to her. We are doubly related. She is my mother’s cousin. She then became my aunt when she married my dad’s older brother, Eddie. It was at that wedding that my mum and dad began their courtship.
We met at East, the Chinese buffet in Southend. There were several cousins of some distance – Eleven of us in all. The atmosphere was merry. I’m always struck with how close my family are and how affectionate. I’m sure there’s dysfunction but it’s not visible when you meet them only occasionally.
After lunch we went back to my aunt’s place where my cousin’s wife, Annette, and I swifly put together cups of tea and coffee, and passed around slices of cake.
The weather was disgusting. Cold, windy and very rainy-misty. However, it was a very good afternoon.
Ninety-eight. And so bright and elegant. Now, that’s amazing!
I’ll put it in writing: the tree will come back better than ever. It will pour energy into its new smaller self and grow surprisingly quickly. When the time comes it will probably leaf like crazy.
There’s a smaller one directly opposite that had the same treatment two years ago. It is just starting to look like a BIT of a tree, with some leaves finally, but it’s definitely not resplendent. We shall see.