Mushroom sculpture getting lots of attention
Rhonda Smyth - Rhonda's Remarks
The Main Street mushroom, carved from an old tree in a private residentional yard in Irvine, sure has gotten a lot of attention.
I was in a very large group of residents and out-of-towners this weekend and many of them were discussing the sculpture. There were mixed feelings about it.
I talked to some Main Street residents who are either upset about it or ambiguous about it.
I also received a letter to the editor about it, which is on this page.
One of the neighbors told me that he saw the tree when they were cutting it and it appeared to him to be a very healthly tree.
It was about 150 feet tall and shaded the front of the house and the sidewalk. A very nice old oak tree.
Nobody seems to know exactly how old the tree was, but some say it could be as much as 150 years old.
Some say they think it is a crime that the tree was used in this manner, when we are losing green space daily to parking lots and construction.
One visitor to town said he nearly ran out of the road when he saw it and had to pull over for a closer look.
Since everybody knows where I work, everybody expected me to write about it.
Knowing how opinionated I am and how I have never been afraid to express my opinions, everybody naturally thought I would do that here.
Sorry to disappoint you but my opinion on the subject is irrelevant.
I will say this, it will bring attention to the Mountain Mushroom Festival which is the last weekend of April. I do believe property owners should be allowed to do whatever they want with their property as long as it doesn’t create a nuisance to their neighbors.
I talked to Anthony Ray who recently bought the old house. He has really fixed it up and made it look great with new windows and siding.
He told me he really didn’t want to cut the old tree down, but the insurance company didn’t want to insure the roof of the house with the old tree standing.
He said he didn’t want to destroy it completely and thought having it carved into a mushroom would be a way to bring attention to the festival and preserve part of the tree.
Ray moved to Barnes Mountain from Richmond five years ago and then decided to move to town.
He seems like a nice man and I believe he will be a good neighbor.
•••
Weather is something we all talk about.
When there is nothing else to discuss, you can always say “how about this weather?”
Well, how about this sudden change from very cold to very hot?
Sunday it was 91 degrees on the front porch at my home.
(We don’t have a big shade tree in our front yard.)
Something has happened to our yard, that has never happened before.
The grass looks like it is dead and doesn’t look like it will be coming back.
We had moles really bad last summer and I was wondering if maybe the grub worms that the moles eat could have caused the grass to die?
The front yard is a mess.
My mom has always prided herself on keeping a nice, manicured front lawn so she is a little worried about it.
I suppposed we will try to treat the soil for the grubs then scatter some seed.
The back yard is well cultivated where the moles worked through it all winter.
It’s a mess too.
Mama said,”well maybe we will just move.”
That’a how important having a nice yard is to her.