Anyone who knows me knows that I have an obsession with sticks. I always have. Embarrassingly in the early years of primary school, I used to chew on sticks in the playground. Yes, it is gross and no, I have no idea why. I now find myself decorating with all things stick, dried pod or flower. The stick thing stems (mind the pun) from an obsession with trees. From a Property Addict’s perspective, trees are essential to the urban streetscape and how our homes extend into the outside world. They change beautifully with the seasons; provide contour, colour, light and shadow. I have always found them inspiring, enough to write two stories as my Major Works in Year 11.
The first was Citrus Part 2. Not sure why it was not Part 1 – likely I was trying to be clever. The piece was a discussion on the life cycle of a leaf in the first person, running through each season, being tortured and nurtured in turn by the various elements until its eventual demise into compost, providing its own nutrient value back to the soil, and thus the tree which gave it life. The reference was made back to the human species in yet another (failed) attempt at being extremely clever and witty. I was awarded 20/20 for said piece, which was very generous.
Citrus Part 1 was a very different beast. It was much of the reason I had a lengthy hiatus from creative writing. Probably maligned by the fact that there was no Citrus Part 1, I embarked on literary tirade of teenage angst, highlighted by the use of extreme profanity and adult themes. In fact, I have never used the “F” word so much in my life, which is quite an achievement, since according to my best friend, Aunty Addict has taught her kids every rude word they know. Needless to say, Citrus Part 1 was NOT inspired by trees. I was awarded another 20/20 for this piece to save my feelings. I was also awarded weekly visits to the Student Counselor. Thankfully neither Citrus Parts 1 or 2 survived the Counseling. My obsession with trees, however, did.
Now I stare out of my office window at the filtered view of the St Leonards’ skyline being obscured by my neighbours’ weeping willow which has come into full leaf. I look in the other direction at the few strategically misplaced trees which block my view of the City skyline. The property capitalist in me thinks “I need to increase the value of my property by having a chat to my neighbours to have them to remove those noxious weeds”. The dreamer in me continues to stare at the beautiful branches drifting lightly in the breeze, chastising the analytical side of the brain. And such is the conflict.
In steps Mr Addict. Mr Addict takes after his father (Mr Addict Snr) who loved complaining about the leaf litter dropping in the pool. Many a morning was spent by Mr Addict Snr shaking his head at the pool, muttering about the “damn nuisance trees”. The apple does not fall far from that tree (sorry). Several times a week, Mr Addict will become his own version of Narcissus and stare at his own reflection in the pool, a reflection obscured by thousands of tiny leaves. Ironic how both of our respective views are blocked out by trees and their offspring! Mr Addict is determined to apply to Council to have the trees removed, due to their classification as noxious weeds. I am not so sure that this is the right approach.
Being the mediator that I have to be as an Agent, I decided to embark (again, sorry) on a mission to save the trees from Mr Addict’s evil clutches. Being completely selfish, I also decided to serve my own agenda, to improve my view. The solution? I had a chat to my neighbour about pruning the trees at our expense. Our neighbours were surprising amenable to the idea. Not so the Finance Committee (aka Mr Addict), upset about us having to pay a token amount to have the trees pruned. In pushing forward my point, I diplomatically offered the alternative of “no pruning and continued tree litter” to him, and consequently won the negotiation. Actually, the words used to demonstrate my viewpoint to Mr Addict were “Are you a complete idiot? Let’s prune the fucking trees.” We had an arborist carry out hard pruning of the trees (for which we did not require Council approval as Weeping Willows are, as mentioned, a noxious weed), which has solved the situation somewhat.
So the trees remain, and I continue to marvel at their beauty. And the use of extreme profanity lives on too, in the form of Mr Addict who curses the green curtain as it grows back over our fence…
Do you have a love/hate relationship with trees in your neighbourhood? Have you negotiated with a neighbour regarding this type of issue?
