Old Stumpy

So, in my neighborhood, we have a really nice park. It's huge. And it has brand new, "state of the art" (or so it says) equipment. It's pretty much perfect except for one little tree. My sister calls it Old Stumpy because it's the ugliest tree you see. All the other trees in the park are planted in perfect alignment and are well groomed. Not Stumpy. Stumpy resides as a safety hazard, in the middle of the soccer field, so kids have to play around it or mark it off with orange cones. Most of it's branches are broken and it never has leaves on it, even in spring. But like the people who reside here, Stumpy gives our neighborhood character.

Stumpy has been around since I moved here over ten years ago. He was here before all of the "perfect" trees were planted, before the park rennovations and before most of the residents, in fact. So, for my public display of art, I decided to more or less honor Stumpy. My sister and I went out to the park, with ribbons, glitter, bells and yarn and proceeded to decorate this little relic. I think it came really well. We attached bells to the end of the ribbons so when the wind blows, you can hear them jingle. I don't know if this will stop the Homeowners Association from cutting Old Stumpy down, but I'd like to think now everyone can see him the way my sister and I do.

Old Stumpy is like grampa. Alot of the time, he's embarassing and you just cringe when you're around him.  But that doesn't make you care for him less. He's just as important, if not more, than anyone else in this world.