Trees I've Loved
/A couple of years ago ABC RN's Gretchen Miller launched a project seeking short submissions from listeners across the country on the theme 'trees I've loved, trees I've lost'. She got an enormous and heartfelt response. Tales of tree-cutters, and tree houses. Lone trees and black forests. Immigrants who maintained connection to their first home through a silent, living sentinel in their new backyard. Stories of abundance and of thirst. With 360documentaries Gretchen put together a radio show featuring 40 of these pieces and then last year Harper Collins published In Their Branches compiling 100. It's a dreamy little book full of micro-stories - perfect for dipping - and it was accompanied by an equally dreamy CD of old and new music that speaks of trees. I was in the midst of a three-year creative block when Gretchen's call for submissions came. A couple of hundred words was all I was good for. Below is the audio of my tiny piece about a beloved red gum standing solid through drought. It wasn't consciously allegoric but there you go. If you love trees, if you've lost them, I can so highly recommend this gorgeous little anthology.
