draggin' the line

MP3: Goodbye Old Maple (6.1 mb)

A few weeks ago, we had to take down one of the old maple trees, the one by the patio. It was a siamese twin of a tree at one time, its counterpart having been removed a few years back due to the illness which finally invaded this one. Like most any living thing, it was a source of much delight and much frustration: a great shade provider for us on summer hot days and a tarp of sorts against the rain when running across the patio, but it also littered the place with little helicopter leaves that stained the bricks and there was increasing danger of branches falling onto the casa. It was also very beautiful, but made a nice bridge for renegade raccoons - like the one(s) I mentioned in July - to find their way into our space.

Well the other afternoon at dusk Kate & I were out there looking up at the sky, and she mentioned how nice it was to be able to see it so vastly now without the foliage blocking the view. She was also glad there was no longer a "highway for the raccoons" to make their way into the attic. But we were both a little sad too that the tree was no longer there, majestically and kind as it had been for so long.

I never thought, "there's a song in all this" (why would I?), there just was one. I think it sprang from the desire to somehow honor that gone maple tree before we got used to its absence and went about our days as though it was never there.

Now, I'm no tree-hugger, but when I was younger I thought Magnolia You Sweet Thing was a love song to a tree, and I didn't find anything odd about that at all.


GOODBYE OLD MAPLE

It's good to see the sky on a dusky afternoon
And there's no highway for the raccoon
And there are no helicopters crashing in our yard

We thought the sun might burn us away
But it's been a cool Summer
So we're doin' fine
And in Fall when rain comes around
I'll miss the shelter that kept me from drowning

So goodbye old maple tree
You always had a plot for my baby & me
Goodbye old maple tree
You really meant a lot to my baby & me

Goodbye sweet maple tree
You really meant a lot to my baby & me
Goodbye old maple tree
You always had a thought from my baby & me
Goodbye old maple tree
You really meant a lot to my baby & me
Goodbye old maple tree
You always had a plot for my baby & me
Goodbye old maple tree


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