The Wishing Tree

Sometimes you come across something or someone special, but perfect for the moment. Went for a lovely walk today on hampstead heath. It was the sort of day that takes you back in time. breath that puffs out, birds that skidded on the frozen ponds, and sunshine that blasts so loud on the trees it's like they're communicating somehow.


At one point we came across a fenced off part, beyond a thicket where you could see Kenwood House pale yellow in the sunshine, looking like a little miniature surrounded by bramble.



We walked in and came upon this tree. Just a normal tree with lowish branches growing almost horizontally, and buds just beginning to open. but to it were attached all sorts of things. curios -
A bit of a summer silk scarf. A pock mark shaped stone hung with a ribbon. a ticket, on which several 'wishes' were written, a feather and a blue, unopened rose.




The rose looked like it came from a fairytale. Blueish, unreal, like someone had been there before and poured out their wishes on it for the new year. A rose for love, a stone to keep us grounded, a silk scarf to remind us to be light and the feather that we can sometimes fly. And the wishes - they were written on the baggage tickets hung on the branches. They wished for love without jealousy, an end to war, and we couldn't read the rest. Perhaps that space was for us. I'd like to think of it as my new year wishing tree to fill.

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