A new kind of post for a new kind of thing: an event in the Bay Area that is dog-related. I won’t always have pictures associated with these — for example, if the event hasn’t happened yet, and I want to encourage people to go — but this time I do.
In the neighborhood of Pacific Heights, in Lafayette Park, there stands a somewhat scraggly pine tree. And around about this time of year, every year, it is hung with pictures of the dogs of the neighborhood, both past and present. This tradition is the brainchild of one Ming Chapin, who was hanging a couple of dogs on the tree when I arrived.
Here's to friends, both absent and present
(This is also my first multi-page post: to see and hear more about the tree, follow me past the break:)
Nobody mentioned an actual name for the tradition, so I have just called it the Remembrance Tree. It is near the western edge of the park, not too far from where Clay Street hits it. If you live in the neighborhood, you are welcome to come and hang a picture yourself, but make sure you have laminated it or your picture will rapidly degrade. If you live elsewhere, feel free to come by and see all the pictures on the tree. If you come on the weekend, bring your dog: there are always a bunch at play in this area of the park.
An example ornament
- Peter Taylor and his pup, Quincy McDougal Taylor, PHD, in front of the tree.
This is one of the most caring groups in the whole of San Francisco. We hear so much that is negative about beautiful San Francisco, but where do you find such unconditional love among people who are so varied in age and also by profession ? This is love demonstrated at its highest. We need more of it.