Chop, Chop Tree

Yesterday I passed by the couple who decided to keep and raise me after birth. Nice folks. On the drive there, I have to go past my neighbour's place. Inhabited by old school, old world Sicilians, they come as close to tribal self-sufficiency as they come. National Geographic would be awed.

The garden is run by the wife and I swear Sicilian separatists continue to live in it it's so big. A Sicilian jungle if you will.

And this is a well-to-do neighborhood.

It reminded me of a story. The city, I learned years ago, compels residents to plant trees on their front yards. Hence, our street is filled with a variety of beautiful trees. Most people just go along with it.

Not la Siciliana.

Some Italians prefer things concrete. Nature is to be conquered. Not co-opted and co-habited. They need to maximize every inch of space. Call it a function over form theory as espoused by Italian art-deco artists of the early 20th century - only for property.

One day, the city planted a tree on her land. Not pleased, she cut it down. Soon afterwards, the city planted it again. She chopped it off. This went on for I don't know how long.

I found it odd that the city had enough balls to tell someone what to do on their land. But hey, the state coerces people into doing all sorts of things, right? In this case, it's a tree. What can be so harmless in that? Don't you want trees to spit out fresh oxygen?

Not everyone sees life the same way.

Anyway.

I just realized she must have won her war because the front of her house remains tree-less.

Good for her I figured. Trees are awesome and all (I mean, didn't they help swing the war in Lord of the Rings?) but no one should demand you love them.