Has anyone heard the U2 song One Tree Hill? It was only released as a single in NZ, as a tribute to a Kiwi roadie of U2 who died at a young age, while still working for them. He was from the suburb of One Tree Hill in Auckland, and it's the area I've lived for the last three years. It's a really distinctive landmark in Auckland, and I've lived in sight of it for six years. A sprawling Monterey Pine, and a tall obelisk at the peak of a volcanic cone (they are very common around Auckland). I always think of "home" as soon as I can see the top of One Tree Hill. The cricket club I used to play at (and am still Deputy Club Captain of) has the hill in it's logo (which you can see at the website below). Today, One Tree Hill became No Tree Hill. Due to Maori activists, the 125-year-old tree has been so badly damaged, and further weakened by recent hurricane-force winds, that for safety's sake, they've had to cut it down. Driving home today, and gazing up at the lonely monument, it just felt so wrong. Maybe like losing a face from Mt. Rushmore. Or the stones of Stonehenge falling over. They are going to replace it, but ironically the resource consent may take several years - it only took a week to decide to chop it down. Given the recent tragedies on this list, I feel reluctant to share this, but does anyone else ever feel this way about totally inanimate objects, let alone landmarks? Or am I just weird? Hell ____________________________ "To have great poets, there must be great audiences too." - Walt Whitman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit the NBLs (Natural Born Losers) at: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hell/
