Trees and Art

Yesterday, as on many Saturdays, my day began with enjoying the friends and food at Monica Pope's Green Plum Cooking School. Today's recipes included sushi components, which Monica referred to as a sort of Scattered Sushi, and also a bean ragout. The food was delicious. The sights, sounds, and delicious smells of the farmer's market, and of breakfast at T'afia get my weekend started on a high note.

I rushed from there to The MFAH Sculpture Garden, where The Art Guys married a Plant. As we entered the garden, there was classical music from a string quartet, seated in the morning sun, as it filtered through the leaves of the massive oaks that grow all around the garden. There was a very formal wedding set-up, and a gathering of somewhere around 300 people. The quartet played, I visited with friends. Then, a hush fell on the crowd, and The Art Guys, dressed in tuxedos, wheeled in a young, beautiful live oak tree on a wagon. They went up to the podium, decorated with tulle and flowers, and the wedding ceremony took place (complete with placing a ring on the tree.)

When you marry, a person or a tree, you promise to care for your partner for life. I was standing there thinking about how a marriage is a partnership. I looked at the spindly little plant that was being married, and thought about how it would grow into a huge plant, and it would care for not only it's new partners, The Art Guys, but for many. It would protect us from the hot June sun, and yesterday was definitely a hot and sultry Houston day. It would give us cleaner air, and all the other things that plants do for us.

Mostly, though, the tree would give us beauty. I have lived in Houston most of my life, and I am still struck by the beauty of the trees in this city. I remember when Fannin was lined with towering palms, and I enjoy the beauty of the live oaks in my neighborhood on a daily basis. I still marvel at the canopy that covers the streets. My children say we travel in tree tunnels.

As the wedding concluded, we crossed the street to the Contemporary Arts Museum, for the reception. Mimosas, wedding cake, speeches, and dancing....

This life cycle event, involving a tree, made me think back to Hurricane Ike, and the massive trees that fell as a result of the storm. One in particular still is a daily memory for me. It was an old oak, in a park near my home. It was covered with vines, and was so green. I remember walking around after the storm, and being in shock when I saw this tree on the ground. It stretched almost half the width of the little park. It was still so quiet, as the area was still without electiricty. I went up to the tree, and thought about all the things that the tree had witnessed in its lifetime. My children and I had a sort of memorial for the tree. A funeral. Much as we think of relatives and friends who have died, I also think of the tree.

So, after celebrating at the tree wedding, and congratulating The Art Guys, and looking at the awesome folk art that local artists have at the museum now, I walked home.

Later in the evening, I got to go to another art thing. It was an opening for local artists, and was a real mixture of media and styles. I met one of the artists. She had a couple of pieces that I admired. They both involved doors. What lies on the other side?