magnolia as I returned down the side-
walk. Now I feel guilty about that one.
She might have been harassed by a
local gang or was a frightened refugee;
there could have been any reason for
her rudeness.
I took early evening walks to map
out the best flowers. When the light
faded, I dashed in and had at them like
Edward Scissorhands, turning some
bedraggled hawthorn or Magnolia lilii-
flora Nigra into a beauty before fleeing
with my ill-gotten gains.
I should receive a good citizenship
award for donating my decades of prun-
ing skills to the city for free, but I’ll prob-
ably get arrested for writing this article.
VANCOUVER IS NOTED worldwide for
its exquisite public trees. Some of them
have a complex history. For example,
Vancouver’s original 500 sakura, or
cherry trees, were a gift from the may-
ors of Kobe and Yokohama, who
wanted to express their gratitude to the
Japanese-Canadians who served in
the First World War. Unfortunately, we
repaid them 10 years later by interning
all Japanese residents in prison camps.
Now there are around 20,000 cherry
trees in multiple varieties planted
among magnolias and plum and hun-
dreds of other trees.
Looking up the history of my local
trees made reality return with a ven-
geance, and I realized with some hor-
ror what I had been doing, so I set
down my pruning shears again. “O
mother tell your children not to do
what I have done!”
Treat our city of gardens with respect.
Save the flowers for your children. Yes,
pay attention!
Me? I was rewarded with a new diag-
nosis of survival for an extra year.
Though another spring is here, no
longer will I prowl our evenings,
pruning shears in hand, even though
my damaged heart is exploding like a
deep red rose.
Stolen beauty has a special, danger-
ous quality. It’s also a destructive qual-
ity, never as special as natural beauty
admired in its natural place. Our real
duty is to bloom and grow bright, then
fade and die.
© 2019, BRIAN BRETT. FROM “IF DOCTORS SAID THIS WAS YOUR LAST SPRING, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?”
BY BRIAN BRETT, THETYEE.CA (JUNE 20, 2019).Food for Thought
All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.
JOHN GUNTHER, AUTHOROne cannot think well, love well, sleep well,
if one has not dined well.
VIRGINIA WOOLFrd.ca 65