21 January 2009
Hollow Sentiments
Funny how a dead stump can become a flash point and even national news. This past Monday's vote on propping up a dead stump in Stanley Park has generated a lot print and a lot of comment over the airwaves. The Buzz (Radio 1410--gee whizz what ever became of top 40 C-FUN?) interviewed me Tuesday introducing me as 'chainsaw' Mackinnon (it was in jest and kinda funny if you think about it). I have had quite a few letters on the subject--far and away most in favour of laying the venerable old tree to rest, but some were quite nasty. I guess nostalgia touches us all. I grew up in Vancouver and visited the Hollow Tree often as a child. I loved it too. But like anything we love, we have to be able to say good-bye. I believe that we should let the tree go naturally and with dignity. Let it decompose and become part of the forest. It will generate new growth--and isn't that what life is all about? I have put below a couple of the articles written about the vote. Feel free to comment one way or the other--but let's keep it polite, okay?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The finest works of art spark irrevocable dilemmas. What is amazing to me is how this argument will never be resolved. No one will convince you, Stuart, that it's fine and just to preserve the Hollow Tree. And no one will ever convince the Hollow Tree Society that what they are doing is perverse and silly.
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, how frustrating that neither side is really listening. So much egoism and stubbornness on all sides. Yet on the other hand, what fun! The Hollow Tree has amplified these fundamental questions and caused them to echo through the ages!
Henceforth, when we gaze upon Her, we will mull these questions over in our heads and get no closer to any answers. Who are we? What is it? As stewards and cultivators of the Earth, what do we hold on to? Where do we put it? And when do we let go?
If you think you know the answers, you are deceived. These are not matters of principle, politics, ideology, or dogma. They are matters of intimate sentiment and intellectual sensitivity.
How enormous and profound are the mysteries of the universe. In the shadow of the Hollow Tree, we are humbled.