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Home Front: Culture Wars

Twits in a Tree

2006-12-23

4 Pix at the link. This is a journey into deepest darkest ZoomerLand. Handrail's on the right.

Protesters -- and one columnist -- go out on a limb in Berkeley

Living in the top of a tree in the Berkeley hills has some lovely moments. But the commute -- 50 feet straight up -- is a killer.

When three tree-sitters in a group called Save the Oaks took up residence this month in the grove just below UC Berkeley's Memorial Stadium, they got a lot of attention. They vowed to live in the branches until Cal agreed not to knock down 38 mature oak trees in the grove to make way for a $125 million athletic training facility.

Since then, the city, neighbors and the tree-sitters have filed lawsuits in an attempt to stop the project, and this week UC agreed to put it on hold until January. Meanwhile, tree-sitting celebrity Julia "Butterfly" Hill, who spent two years in a redwood, is supporting the protest. In other words, it's classic Berkeley.

But this morning, one of the sitters, 20-year-old Jessica Walsh, will mark three weeks in a tree, which is a substantial commitment. So far she's endured pounding rainstorms, trunk-swaying winds and even a magnitude 3.7 earthquake.

So what is it like up there?

Posted by:.com

#8 Lightning. Oaks are known for being great conductors.

Posted by: wxjames 2006-12-23 13:55

#7 And of course to be truly one with nature they should be buck-naked.

After all clothing is made from plants, animals, and petroleum products right?

Better eat only what the tree is willing to provide to its guests. Don't want to use Gasoline or electricity (made from fuels...) or nuclear power right?

BTW - how are you heating that thermos of coffee? A fire (burn wood) or electric stove (where does the electricity come from?).

Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-12-23 13:42

#6 I like it tu. Maybe install a webcam there to make sure of no cheating and for entertainment purposes. I for one would like to see Burlap and his bag.

Posted by: Shipman 2006-12-23 12:37

#5 Tell them they won't cut the trees down with one provision. They stay in them forfuckinever. They come down, so do the trees...

Posted by: tu3031 2006-12-23 09:52

#4 The simple answer is -- in a container that is then lowered on a rope. But because they are extremely ecologically minded, there's more to the story. Here's the poop: "We are keeping the defecation and giving it to our friend Burlap," Ayr said. "He takes it to a secret location where it is turned into compost to grow more trees."

Burlap: "so I've got that going for me ....which is nice"

Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-23 09:38

#3 Avian flu is going to be very hard on such people. In fact, I would be surprised if there is a Berkeley afterwards, not just slums with white "X's" painted on the doors.

Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-12-23 09:28

#2 If this doesn't say "Hire me!" on a resume, then nothing does. Well done mom, dad and $20,000/year of your retirement money.

Posted by: ed 2006-12-23 06:55

#1 If I was a more hard-hearted sort I would nominate them for Rachel Corrie Pancake awards. But I just have to have a little sympathy for folks so crazy they regard living on an ironing board and pooping in a bottle as a vacation. Like polygamy, their crime is its own punishment.

Posted by: Glenmore 2006-12-23 01:56

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