Last August when late summer storms hit the valley, we were deeply disappointed when first one tree in Gwen’s Castle fell over, and then another toppled to the ground. They were both from the same root system, in the far northeast corner of the playground. They provided wonderful shade for that area, which was highly popular for young builders with big imaginations. To make matters worse, there was a third tree connected to the same root system that was precariously leaning toward the block wall, to power lines overhead, and into the busy traffic of 40th Street. We had to make the hard decision to also cut down the remaining tree.
Although we left one large section of the second fallen tree for the children to climb and walk on, the corner minus the three huge trees felt like a giant void. What used to be a coveted shady play area, felt exposed and way too bright. The arborist who cut the final tree said if we left the root system in the ground, it might grow back. At the time it seemed like a long shot, but we held hope that it would eventually happen.
Over the following months, a few children played in that area of Gwen’s Castle, but it was often short visits, unlike the sustained play that used to occur when the three shade trees were there. They moved to other spaces, especially in the building area, that had better shade. I didn’t think about that area much until recently.
Earlier in the week I saw a dozen small branches growing out of a different stump on the playground. That stump was what remained of another tree that didn’t survive the storms. This piqued my interested in other parts of playground, and I started looking closer at the trees in the castle. A few kids joined me and said there was a secret place that nobody else knew about. I asked them to show it to me, and sure enough, behind the large stumps of what was left of the big shady trees, thin green branches were popping out all over the tree. There was a small pathway between the stump and the block wall, which most certainly was a well-kept secret.
Once all the children went in for the day, I stayed outside with a large clipper and started trimming. I was stunned by how much growth there was, springing forth from the remains of the three shade trees. The arborist’s prediction had come true. A new iteration of those trees was already coming to life. The heat got to me before I could finish the job, but I did make a little headway before returning inside. I trimmed enough to open up the pathway, and allow visibility of activity going on in the “secret” space.
I know I’ll be going back out there again soon for further revisions to the space. In the meantime, I’ll be thinking of Gwen’s Castle and all the new ways we can use the space after clearing away previous growth. Confirmation of my thoughts in this direction came later in the day when my yoga teacher shared these words: “Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be.” – Sonia Ricotti