Magnolia Watch 36: Mr. Nice Guy

Most of the usual suspects passed along the sidewalk, going and coming from the City Building on Monday afternoon. The police chief, in a dark suit and tie, always making nice with a wave and smile; a dozen or more firemen, walking together; various city and county workers; Stewart Coleman’s attorney, former Mayor Lou Bissette, with a bevy of business boys alongside; and then, the ordinary folks, in town to pay bills or coming and going from court appointments.

I arrived just after noon. Temperatures were already climbing and it took awhile to cool down under the Magnolia. I try to take the shadiest route, but there are long stretches of hot pavement to traverse and lots of traffic to dodge when crossing streets.

“A rabid fundie local” came by this morning, Lady Passion said when I asked how the day was going. He was agitating from the side walk, she said, and then he walked up toward the tree “spewing Biblico.”

“Did you feel threatened?” I asked. “No. It’s common,” she replied. “I’m used to it.”

Buncombe County Commissioner Nathan Ramsey passed by this morning she said. She and Bette attempted a dialog on the Parkside issue and asked aobut his acceptance of campaign financing from Stewart Coleman, but he wasn’t in the mood for much discourse.

Bob and Sue dropped off a box of donuts, and Bette brought some friends by who knew speculator Stewart Coleman. “They wanted to tell me he is really nice,” Lady Passion said, “but what about his ethics?”

John was back. He and his friend are gypsy travelers. They had taken the bus to Hendersonville for weekend work. “People sometimes say things to us too,” John said, like calling us “thieving gypsies” and such. “I tell them I work and pay taxes, which usually shuts them up.” He pulled up a chair in the circle and noticing the jar of dollar bills pulled out his wallet. “Hell, I reckon I can donate. You’ve got to spread the wealth. That’s what makes the world go round.”

“Word is out on the street that the city is sick and tired of the homeless and gypsies. They are passing out free bus tickets to any city in the country,” he said “My buddy is checking that out today.”

A young couple passed on the way to court. I invited them over to sit in the shade. “Thank you, we will. She’s pregnant and it’s really hot out for walking.”

“Did you grow up in Asheville?” I asked. “No. We came to town to meet my father. He’s a Viet Nam veteran, he did two tours. …He has a place where he sits downtown, across from the move theater,” the man said. “Now we’re stuck here in Asheville. I can’t seem to get enough ahead to move. We are homeless, but sometimes we stay in a hotel. It takes just about everything I earn to live.”

I’ve seen his father. He sits in a wheel chair; one leg amputated. He quietly asks of passersby: “Can you help a Vet?” So many of the problems faced by the dispossessed and unhoused in Asheville have deep roots in a society that spends more on weapons and war than on programs of social uplift, as Martin King understood.

A woman from West Asheville who has a green cleaning service stopped to sign the petition. Like many who come, she has mixed feelings about the government’s power of eminent domain. “They were about to use eminent domain against us for I-26,” she said. “But if that’s what it takes to get the park back, I’m for it here.” She overheard our conversation about those who have come by in the last few days telling us to lighten up on Mr. Coleman because he is really a nice guy.

“Coleman might be a fun man to hang out with on the golf course,” she said, “but he’s not doing my family any good.”

It’s the appalling contrast of wealth without social conscience asserting itself in the midst of growing poverty and suffering in Asheville that makes it hard to buy the Mr. nice guy idea. “Good is as good does,” Lady Passion said.

Mike came over to sit awhile in the mid afternoon. He was in town to pick up employment applications with the city and county. “I need to get nine more years in so I can get my retirement,” he said.

Mike told us he was recently fired after working 21 years with the city and county.

“I drove a trash truck and I served my people,” he said. “I loved my runs. I loved every one of the people on my run. I helped them. I worked in Public Service. Service is what I was supposed to do.”

He stayed awhile beneath the Magnolia, settling in to the easy conversation facilitated by the natural setting. He pointed out toward Vance monument. “There used to be a Black and White bathroom under there,” he said. “I took it out.” He laughed. “I was glad to take it out.”

“They don’t need a building here,” he said, looking around the tiny piece of parkland. “It would be dumber than hell.”

Richard and his granddaughter Olivia walked up about the time the much needed rains came. We huddled beneath the tree talking. Steve, who I am discovering is a font of historic information about Asheville, was back from the Downtown Master Plan strategy meeting.

“There is no preservation objective in the master plan,” he said. “There is no protection for historic buildings.”

Julie, who arrived with bananas and oranges for breakfast, added. “They can prevent you from adding or painting a shingle in Montford, but not from tearing down an historic building.”

As the rains cooled us, Steve pointed toward the county building. He says it looks like the “Ministry of Truth” in the book, 1984. “Did you notice,” he said. “The city always carefully takes down the flag in the evening, but the county leaves it up, even in the rain.”

I stopped by Greenlife grocery on my way home to pick up something for dinner. I met a friend there who told me, “I know someone who thinks Stewart Coleman is really nice.”

Hmmm. I've heard that one before.

“It’s his hairdresser,” she said.

Magnolia Watch 35: Like Family

Ni Pon, a cook with the Siri Grill provided a curried rice dish for our Sunday dinner from a family-run booth in the Belle Chere food court across the park. He's a friend of Manoon who brought folks by to sign the petition throughout the day, including his son and some young visitors from Thailand.

"He comes by in the mornings and we do Tai Chi under the Magnolia," Lady Passion said. She was rubbing a crick in her neck. After nineteen nights sleeping on the ground she is holding her own remarkably well.

Dhiraja and her husband Virato stopped by again. He told Lady Passion that his radio program, Virato Live! on Clear Channel gets as many as 400,000 listeners.

Jerrie and Terrie Rutherford, lifelong Candler residents, tuned in to Virato's interview with Lady Passion. They came by in the late afternoon just as the Belle Chere carnival was closing down. "I heard you on the radio Saturday," Jerrie said. "I want to commend you. You did a good job." They took a seat and relaxed a bit in the cool shade.

"I think this is a fiasco. I'm a conservative. I'm a tree cutter, not a tree hugger, but really, I think that ya'll have a good cause. How could they sell this land?"

We talked awhile as the breezes moved though the branches in the post-carnival quiet. "We've done many a Shindig in that building downstairs when Bill Stanley owned it," Terrie told us, pointing to the Hayes & Hopson building. "We used to clog back then." The century-old, historic brick building would have to be razed to make room for Stewart Coleman's condominiums. "I'm kind of surprised at Bill Stanley," Terrie continued. "We have known him for years. We voted for him. We need to call him."

A woman stopped by to chide us for focusing our efforts around the Magnolia. She said she didn't have the time to take a seat. "The focus on the tree is a way to be dismissed," she said. "They're laughing at you. Did you see the Asheville Disclaimer?"

"Being in the Asheville Disclaimer means you've arrived," Ed Stein countered. His recent letter to the editor in the Asheville Citizen Times presented a working man's point of view about the Parkside Condominium controversy.

Sal who lives in Black Mountain, signed the petition saying, "I'm as aggravated as you, but not as motivated." He was on his way to listen to some Blue Grass musicians and had a few minutes to sit. "I think we were robbed." he said. "It's so wrong, really wrong, to even think about putting a building here. I can't believe what they've done with this town. Every time I see another crane...This city council is giving these developers anything they want."

Dave, who works at the Greyhound station, sometimes helps out with the night watch. We talked a bit as he enjoyed his Thai dinner. "Tomorrow I'll have my own home," he said proudly. "He's had to wait over a year to get a HUD apartment. He pulled out a picture of his girlfriend, "She's staying at A-Hope," he said. "You are like family to me," he told Steve and Lady Passion.
As our Magnolia Watch community grows, we all are learning from each other and about the diverse life paths that converge here at the Magnolia.

Two young boys came around for a drink of water. They were riding scooters up and down the sidewalk and around the front of City Hall. One of them had been hanging out for awhile on Saturday when he couldn't reach his mother on her cellphone. "Don't you get bored sitting here?" he wanted to know. Soon he was explaining to others why we were sitting with the tree.

One of the members of a local Christian community, known around town as the "long shirts" came and we shared enough of the ample Thai food to feed his household.
"They come from all over the country," Steve reported after his long conversation with the man. "He told me they try to be spiritual and prepare themselves for the life to come. They model themselves after first century Christians," Steve explained. "He told me the printed word wasn't enough. They want to live their beliefs."

"Just like we do," Lady Passion said.

Around twilight, as the setting sun cast a rose quartz glow on our beautiful city building, an older couple walked briskly past on the side walk. We waved and said hello.
"You need the Lord!" the woman replied, not breaking her stride.
"I've got a lot of them, thanks!" Lady Passion countered. "You need to catch up."

Bette walked up at dusk. She had a thermos of coffee donated by the French Broad Food Co-op in one hand and a bag of ice in the other. Such thoughtful support really raises our spirits. "The street was blocked off," she said. "But when I told the officer I was bringing coffee to the Magnolia watchers, he let me go through."

Magnolia Watch 34: Sending a Message

"My grandmother had 11 kids. My mom, she was a Pack. We're still here. There is tons of Packs living in Asheville.
--Ashley Ingle

Among the many hundreds who passed the Magnolia this Belle Chere Saturday was a young woman named Ashely Ingle. She approached with a group of friends. "I'm related to the Pack family," she said. "There is tons of Packs living in Asheville." We talked awhile about the sale of parkland and her family's lawsuit to reclaim it for the public. "He's wanting to sue our family," she said of Developer Stewart Coleman's Slander of Title counter suit. "They made my uncle do a blood test to prove he was a Pack." She said that her Aunt, who lives in Holden Beach, "is the main one that is handling it all. ...We don't care to get any money out of it. We just want it back the way it was."

Getting the park "back the way it was " might be an impossible goal now that it has undergone the scraped earth policy of the Pack Square Conservancy, but returning the disputed land to the "public forever" as George W. Pack intended is imperative. This betrayal of a bequest and of the public trust must be reversed.

Councilman Jan Davis stopped over on his way to the festival. We asked him about his position on eminent domain, a power neither the county nor the city government seem willing to invoke. "The difficulty, as you are well aware, is that the state determines the value," Davis said. "You hate to see a building built here. It is regrettable [the land sale] ever happened."

When I arrived in the early afternoon Daniel was leaning against the trunk playing a soft tune on his flute. Manoon, wearing a traditional Thai Pa khaw Ma, was opening cartons of savory Thai food he brought from his friend's Belle Chere booth, and Lady Passion had just returned from an interview on Virato Live! She was dabbing her mosquito bites with lotion. "I figure it will take me about a month to heal up," she said.

David made quite an entrance with his black dog Sam. He was pulling an ice chest with six growlers of organic ale from his brewery, Pisgah Brewing Company. We all toasted to the "people's autonomous republic of Magnolia" and sipped Endless Summer ale, "the official brew of the Republic of Magnolia."

I asked how the evening had gone. We had lots of people coming and going, Lady Passion reported. "They lock the portajohn's at night," Steve remarked. "They all had shiny new padlocks on them." With all the construction sites, folks in need are seeking out the portajohn's in the many areas under construction. Isn't it telling that Asheville's canine residents can urinate anywhere when the need arises, but human residents face arrest, a $15 fine and court costs of $125 if they seek relief outside.

Police came by early this morning to check on me," Lady Passion said. Apparently there was a woman found hanging in a tree in Aston Park last night. The officer wanted to be sure I was safe, she said. He told me "It's bad. Somebody's trying to send a message." Our friend Wayne from Z house also came by to report on the incident. "Her feet were tied," he said. But according to the Asheville Citizen-Times today, police are now calling it a suicide.

A clown approached in the late afternoon. He had been blowing up balloons and entertaining outside the festival limits, he told us, on the round-a-bout. A policeman came and told me, "You're going to have to shut down right now." I asked them to show me the law. Several hours later they returned with a copy of a panhandling and begging law. "I'm not begging or panhandling," the clown complained. "I don't see how my first Amendment rights are any less valid in this festival than any other time." Dave, of Cop Watch, went up to the police station to inquire about the incident and get a complaint form for the clown.

Meanwhile, as we talked, the clown told us, "I've got the salvage rights to that building when they tear it down." He pointed to the century old Hayes-Hobson building, threatened with demolition if the Parkside Condos rise. "Did you know there is a river running under there? You can hear the water when you're in the basement."

"Who knew that a clown was gonna come up and say he has salvage rights to this building," Lady Passion said.

I walked through Belle Chere a few times Saturday and saw some of the perennial conflict between the fundamental Christians, preaching damnation at Vance monument, and members of the GLBTG community holding their signs. Police were clustered nearby watching the confrontation.

As the day wore on, the petitions filled and the conversations deepened. Occasionally police escorted handcuffed men on the sidewalk past the tree on the way to the jail house. Groups of white teenagers crossed through on the way to find what pleasures they could at the Edible Park, and friends came to fill our circle of chairs holding the ground and protecting our tree.

By 10:30 p.m when I caught a ride home with Clay and Linda, police had arrived en masse to quell what sounded like a drunken brawl, the streets were trashed, and the funnel cakes still dripping with grease.

But across town, a family grieves the death of a loved one found hanging in a tree, and the Belle Chere festivities ring hollow and crass.

The problems in our city go far deeper than a clown without a permit. It seems we have become a town that has turned its back on the most vulnerable among us in pursuit of profit, and no circus can ever cover that deplorable truth.

Magnolia Watch Day 33: Behind Closed Doors

“I was the witness in two weddings under this tree,” Asheville police officer Scott Lunsford reminisced Friday as he stood in the shade of our Magnolia. “My wife was over here the other day, and she signed,” he said as he picked up the clipboard of petitions calling on the city and county to invoke eminent domain to reclaim our parkland. “I’m a citizen too.”
Before he left, he assured Lady Passion: “I’ll be around and about. If you have any problem with one of the young guys in blue, call me. I’ll be a sounding board.”

“We go way back,” Lady Passion explained after he left. “I used to do psychic work for the police department. He was my liaison.”

Earlier another police officer had declined to sign. “I’ll be free in 20 months and 3 days,” she said, believing, perhaps, that she relinquished her Constitutional right to petition government for redress of grievance when she signed on as a police officer.

Police Chief Hogan was back in his dress blues. Usually when he passes he is in civilian dress. But this is Belle Cher weekend, and like last year, he is stylin’ as he rides about on the $5,000 Segway. He demonstrated for us how it works: “Lean forward and you go forward,” he said. Then he wheeled it completely around and showed us how to back up and stop. “It’s fun,” he said. “It goes 12-1/2 mph and the battery charge lasts all day.”

"He's like a little boy in his fancy blue suit," Lady Passion said.

WLOS reporter Charu and her camera man had been covering the closed session of the Buncombe County Commissioners. They came by to report: “I ran after the commissioners outside the meeting,” she said. “Bill Stanley was the slowest, so we caught up with him first.”
“He said he would have done it again,” she told us. The Commissioners took no action regarding the land sale. “They said they would wait until August 25 for the [Superior Court] decision in the [Pack family] lawsuit.”

Hmmm. This hot potato keeps being batted back and forth. Meanwhile, we’re gathering support and strength and determination to resist this shameful sale of public parkland. Charlie Thomas reports close to 4,000 signatures gathered thus far on the petition to Stop Parkside by Eminent Domain.

A woman who said she recently moved here from South Florida came up to sign the petition. “Can I interview you?” the WLOS reporter asked. “No,” she said. “My husband works for Coleman,” she explained. “They’re not really the nicest people. They’ve had so much money for so long.” After the cameras were gone a city worker approached. “Your sign says ‘Save Our Park.’ Aren’t you a little late?” The Park is gone. They’ve spent millions and look at it, they’ve already cut too many trees,” she said pointing to the fenced off dustbowl that was once a well-loved park. “It was perfectly lovely before. There was nothing wrong with the park.”
As she left, she turned to add:

“I work here. You have no idea what goes on behind these walls.”

We had jugglers, group calling themselves "Forty Fingers and a Missing Tooth," and roving musicians and many other passers by spend time at the Magnolia today, and always we appreciate the gifts of time and talent. The
French Broad Food Co-op sent over some Emergen C to bolster us, and others have brought pizza and donuts and home-cooked meals, coffee and cold water and fruit. We depend on such generosity. One man put it well:
“Take a little time, make that connection,” with Asheville’s treasured Magnolia.

Magnolia Watch Day 32: Taking the Beauty out of Asheville

This is crucial to the whole picture. It is a test as to whether this community will be run by a fewwith vested interest or the majority of the people whose will is for the common good.
--Gene Hampton, Citizens for Quality Government

Gene Hampton was raised in Magnolia, Mississippi, so he understands our concern to preserve our Magnolia. He also sees the wider issues around this campaign to Stop Parkside!. Gene came by in his usual dapper duds and straw hat today to share some Magnolia shade. The conversation turned to sit-ins and other direct actions he has participated in over the years. He was active in Nashville during the 1960s civil rights campaigns. "That's where I started," he said. "I was with them in the beginning." He said he also helped to see the 1968 Fair Housing Act passed. He also talked about the time when Asheville's African American community mounted a successful three-month rent strike (1968-69). Housing conditions were deplorable and rich white landlords were charging exorbitant fees for shanties. It was a campaign of nonviolent direct action that brought needed changes.

"The people really have the power," Gene said. "They've just been made to think they don't."

Pastor Spencer Hardaway of the Rock Hill Missionary Baptist Church, surrounded by dozens of young people, came by to see the Magnolia. They were walking about town taking photos for a display at the YMI cultural center. I pulled down the low-hanging branch of the last Magnolia bloom to let them have a whiff.

"That smells just like my mama's perfume," one young man said. Many signed the petition to reclaim the park and posed at the tree for pictures. They were full of questions about the situation.

Two street musicians, in town from Cincinnati, were playing music. Ian sat with his guitar composing an on-the-spot song for the Magnolia. It was a rousing tune and soon several young people were dancing under the tree.

"Don't you take my tree!/Don't you take my tree!

Sweet, Sweet Magnolia!/Blossoms blooming free."

"They really want to tear down this tree?" one young girl asked. "That's retarded!"

There were four groups of young people who came by, cameras in hand, throughout the day. They were accompanied by older adults who admired the beauty of the Magnolia and listened as we answered the many questions from the youth.

"I believe in what ya'll stand for," one woman told us. "They're just taking the beauty out of Asheville."

Joe Carney, a local contractor who does historic preservation of Asheville homes, sat awhile in the shade while the musicians played. He said he'd been doing battle with the city water department over some meter fees. "It's really hard to leave," he said, after a little while. "If ya'll need anything, just give me a call," he offered. Adding his good support in this collective effort that has brought so many into the circle of concern about the threatened loss of our parkland and tree.

"I have good feelings about this," Joe said. "There will be a positive outcome."

The County Commissioners meet on Friday in closed session. Let's hope they have listened to the people and act decisively to return our parkland.

“The real wealth of nations isn’t financial – it is the contributions of people and of nature. We need an economic system that gives value to the work of caring and caring for our Mother Earth.” Riane Eisler

Magnolia Watch Day 31: Our Eminent Domain

A great nation is like a great man: When he makes a mistake, he realizes it. Having realized it, he admits it. Having admitted it, he corrects it.
-- Tao Te Ching

My home is shaded by large old trees, so even on these 90 degree plus days it is comfortably cool inside. Part of my morning ritual is to carry a few jugs of water out to refresh the tomatoes, squash and beans hard hit by the long drought. In a sunny spot across the street I have eminent domained a garden in land flipped from one investor to another, time and again, at no profit to the land itself. My herb garden is thriving there now, and a few vegetables.

I'd gladly take a pick axe to some of the parking lots around town and spread more seed if I had the energy.

It's been later and later in the day before I make my way to town. The uphill walk to the Magnolia tree at City County Plaza is a hot one as I maneuver amidst the heavy traffic of the road people, insulated in their huge and toxic machines. I have to work on my attitude as I walk past the acres of parking lots and blocked sidewalks to finally reach a bit of shade and green at our threatened Magnolia.

Every day brings new people around the tree, stopping by to talk with us as we hold the ground, the people's ground, under our liberty tree. Our regulars come too, like Bob and Sue from West Asheville, who keep us supplied with many needful items, and good conversation.

We get more and more greetings of "Thank you. Keep it up! Carry on! and gifts of food and water and companionship. This direct action- this bold practice of Democracy by concerned citizens- should not be such an unusual sight, it should be happening everywhere as we respond to the urgent crises in this country. Instead, we are reduced to being customers, consumers, tourists, and taxpayers and for the most part, the people's voices are muted. "I'd love to join you, but I'd get fired," was the way one government employee excused herself.

Steve calls our park "the people's temporary autonomous zone of Magnolia." The disputed parkland has certainly provided an unique opportunity to gather, night and day, on our City's front lawn, without the usual restrictions on public places. With the verbal permission of speculator Stewart Coleman, our presence elicits only a "have a good evening" from the passing Police Chief, who has an officer parked at City Hall during the day, with only the occasional police drive by at night, though we are happy to know they will come if we need them.

Today felt a bit like a lull before the Belle Chere storm. The high winds were whipping up the Pack Square Conservancy dust bowl. It is poor planning to put the Belle Chere food court so close to the flying dust. That will make for some very gritty food for the tourists.

We watched as the Park and Rec workmen hoisted the Bele Chere banner on the front of City Hall. It wasn't an easy task given the high winds, but they finally got it reasonably secured, breaking the bottom dowel in the process. It might hold, if the winds subside.

Some of the various groups working on the Parkside issue attempted to meet at Firestorm cafe tonight, but it was a full and noisy house. We went out into the streets looking for an alternative place to meet. Ironically the only green spot anywhere close by was the corporate lawn at the back of the Wachovia bank drive through.

People welcomed a new city planner tonight. In the paper she said she was going to spend some time listening. I hope she doesn't spend too much time in that mode, because the developers are not waiting and the towers of privilege are rising as the old familar landmarks fall day by day. Badger came by and reported that the pink house on Broadway is gone, a pile of rubble in a hole is all that remains. What next?

The Buncombe commissioners are meeting Friday for a closed session to discuss this Parkside extortion. Commissioner Gantt was on the Making Progress show on WPVM and said he had offered Stewart Coleman $4 million dollars to buy back our park but the multi millionaire refused.

So why is it that these politicians don't heed the people's will and declare eminent domain?

Magnolia Watch Day 30: Signing Our Names

When rich speculators prosper
while farmers lose their land;
when government officials spend money
on weapons instead of cures;
when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible
while the poor have nowhere to turn--
all this is robbery and chaos.
It is not in keeping with the Tao.

The stories keep coming as more local folk find their way to the Magnolia. This liberty tree has become something of a listening post as the people come to tell of their dealings with the Coleman family, the Buncombe County Commissioners, and the criminal justice system, or to show support and concern for the Lady who sits under the Magnolia tree to keep it safe.

Lisa, flanked by her two little brothers, Clyde and Oliver, came by Tuesday afternoon from Mars Hill. The three had seen the story on WLOS TV, and like most, they were eager to sign the petition to reclaim our park and save our Magnolia.

"Every night before he goes to bed Oliver asks how you sleep out here," Lisa told Lady Passion. "So I brought him here so he could ask you himself."

"I was just in jail with the Mayor's brother," Eric Laurilla revealed on his way past the Magnolia. "I did a little too much drinking," he admitted. "I'll sign," he said, picking up the clipboard. "I'm a conservative Republican, but I don't believe in being a crook!

...It was illegal what they did. I don't understand how our government can let us get screwed like that. They should throw them all in Jail."

"I've been reading about this in the paper," Chris Stanley, told us as he added his name to the Petition. "It's not right."
Is the developer Stewart Coleman? he asked. "Mr. Asheville mall Coleman?" That's him, we answered. "If I had that kind of money, I'd help out my fellow man," he said.

"My brother used to cut grass for him in the late 1960's. He owned the apartments at Edgewood Knoll on Merrimon. My brother cut four of his toes off. We had to take Mr. Coleman to court about it. He didn't care. My mom said, 'That man hasn't even come by or called to see how my son is doing.'"

Three students from Carolina Day School were in town to sell candy for their sports team.
"Is this Stewart Coleman's land?" one lanky young man asked. "He wants to cut this big tree?"

Yes he does.

"His grandson goes to Carolina Day and we play basket ball together," he said.

Well, tell him to talk to his grandfather about saving this tree, we urged.

Lady Passion, who is in her 20th day of 24/7 presence with the Magnolia, told about the mid-morning Fire Drill at City Hall. "All the men were standing around sweating in the sun," she said. "The women had sense to come over under the Magnolia shade. I had about 30 sitting here," she said. "Some of them even signed the petition."

When I arrived in the early afternoon, John and Lady Passion were talking. John revealed that he is a gypsy, part of a clan that fled the Nazis in Romania. About 200 clan members meet each year for two weeks in the swamps just outside New Orleans, he said. "We dance, drink and make love. Then we separate," he spread his arms out wide to illustrate.
"Sounds very Pagan," Lady Passion said. "Like Beltaine."

John didn't fit my idea of a gypsy traveler. He was clean shaven, dressed neatly in sports shirt and shorts, with no visible tatoos, and carrying everything in small zippered bag.

"We blend into society," he said. "We get jobs when we hit the city. I've been here 14 days and I've worked 13 at Labor Ready." He pulled up the leg of his shorts. "We're tattoo artists," he said. "It's how we identify each other. I have 30. This one is a Viking lady."

Brian brought his fifteen year old friend Christie from Kings Mountain, N.C. They had seen the story on TV, he said. Christie was full of questions. "Why are you sleeping out here?" she asked Lady Passion. "Ain't you got a home?"
"These people have a cause," her friend replied. "They are sittin' here to save this tree. God put it on this Earth to stay. Not to put a building over it."

Rev. Richard, Lady Passion's first guest of the day, had a different view. "Armageddon is coming any day," he told her. "I believe the Earth will be restored." He saw no need to act on behalf of the trees. "Everything that's been destroyed will be made whole."

Made whole. Didn't Stewart Coleman use a similar phrase?

Virato and his wife took a seat in the shade for a while. "Isn't there a rally here today?" he asked.
That was last week, we said. You missed it. He invited Lady Passion on his radio show Saturday when he broadcasts in the midst of Belle Chere. While they were sitting, Councilman Mumpower stopped walked over. He declined our offer to have a seat. "I'm late for a meeting with our new Planning Director. How are you holding up?" he asked.

Nice that he inquired. It's been hot and dusty and sometimes difficult, but incredibly rich with the stories of so many of the people, high and low, who sit for awhile on this Magnolia summer in front of City Hall. Police Chief Hogan waved as he passed. "Have a good evening." Such a cordial sit-in.

Jesse, host of the Jazz Caravan on WPVM came by on his way to a City Council meeting. "That's delicious," he said as he pulled down the branch for a whiff of the last Magnolia blossom. "They are having some discussions about African American businesses, he said. "With all the projects going on here, rarely do you see even one person of color." The City Council has given "unfettered access to developers," he said, and "It is absolutely outrageous that Coleman's condos would turn their back on the African American Community."

Adam Banner (of Banner Elk), dressed in a dark suit and "Republican red" tie, came by to talk about his million dollar grant from the USDA to "buy land in bulk" for a "Center for Urban Agriculture." He is a former federal agent, he said, with the Department of Homeland Security, and is enrolled in a Criminal Justice program. He said he's never farmed himself, and doesn't have a garden, but he has a big vision, and a big check coming in October, he says.
"This is one of the things we need to protect. Those in high power who want to run this county like a business, they lose sight."

Magnolia Watch Day 29: "What About the Workin' Man?"

The breezes were brisk, hot and dust laden Monday as the CAT across the fence scooped up pile after pile of dry dirt, dumping them into a truck bed, with a high pitched beep beep beep as it worked.

All day passersby trying to meet appointments in the city or county buildings had to walk through clouds of yellow dust in 95 degree heat.

"I'm tired. Can I set in your shade?" an older woman asked. " She was visiting from her home in South Carolina. "I love Magnolias and this is such a pretty one."

Several others stopped for a few moments of respite from the oppressive heat in the shade of the Magnolia. One scoop of the gritty dust dispersed on the wind and into the faces of some of Asheville's much courted tourists as the Gray Line bus stopped on the road for a view of City Hall.

Apparently this work has little to do with park design, but is to fix a leaking underground water pipe put in earlier in this haphazard, expensive and poorly managed park renovation. So its more time, more money, more labor and the heart of the town reduced to a dustbowl as the Belle Chere crowds descend.

"They used to have benches here," several old timers remarked as they rested a bit in our camp chairs. "Why did they take them away?" The construction and obstruction throughout the city has added more stress and risk to walking, and the already dangerous traffic, heat and ozone levels further threaten health.

"The county needs to find a way to get this land back, and then put benches all around the tree." Sue remarked. She and her husband Bob, two of the regular Magnolia Watch supporters, stop by most days to help hold the ground.

"They don't give a damn about the animals in there, do they?" exclaimed Jonathan, a Cherokee and Asheville native. He wore a tee shirt from the 30th Anniversary of the Longest Walk. He had just returned by bus after walking the route from Asheville to Washington, D.C.

The Police Chief waved as he passed, coming and going, but former Mayor Lou Bissette kept his head down the first time he passed. On his return from the County Building, Lady Passion called out, "Hey Lou, how about signing the petition?" This elicited his smile but he kept up his brisk pace along the sidewalk beside the fenced off wasteland of his former client, Pack Square Conservancy, and past the remnant triangle of green space with our Magnolia, threatened now by Bissette's current client, Parkside developer Stewart Coleman.

"Part of the beauty of this [Magnolia Watch] is that most of key players have to pass right by," Betty said. She rides a bus into town most days and comes by to check in.

"My mom had a club called the Sky Club," a man named Stamey told us, "and a restaurant named Ceasers. She was head of the Democratic party for years. To me they all look the same anymore. They're all corrupt." He wouldn't take a seat, but had a lot to say, talking fast as he shared his history. "My grandmother's home was where the YMCA is now....I grew up in this town. I know the corruption," he said. "These guys have sold this place out. The problem is real estate companies and the banksters."

The flasher was back. He came to apologize. "People have different ways," he said, sitting cross legged in the circle by the Magnolia.

"If you respect us, we'll respect you," Sue said, and Bob gave him a hug as he stood to leave.

Another man, coming up from the block, stopped to sign the petition. 'We don't need any more stack a shacks," he said. "What about the workin' man?"

Magnolia Watch Day 28: Sunday Music

Magnolias always attract me. I love the scent and shiny leaf. It is healthy, strong and peaceful. All beings have an energy field. This being emanates an energy that is attracting me here to help. --Manoon

When I arrived on Sunday, Badger was putting the finishing touches on a wind chime he was crafting from copper wire and bamboo. He lives quite compactly, packing his worldly goods on the front and back of his bicycle. As he works, he spreads open a cloth filled with found objects: bits of colored glass, keys, coins, crystals and stones, bits of metal and pieces of wood, shell and feathers. He's one of many craftsfolk and musicians who have graced us at the Magnolia.

Manoon came back Sunday with several flutes that he carried in a cloth bag over his shoulder. One, he called Kan, is an indigenous instrument of the Laotian and Thai people. He played a song for the Magnolia. "It makes me sad what is being done to our earth," he said. The music was enchanting. Steve got out his bamboo flute and the two gave a Sunday concert under the sweet shade of our Magnolia.

Folks in cars and vans and truck continue to drive around the circle in front of City Hall waving or giving a thumbs up. Some park and come by to sit bringing cool water and snacks or sharing bits of overheard information about the Parkside controversy.

"They need to be sure we're still here, that we're not lying to them, like the government lies," Lady Passion observed.

A group of former girl scouts stopped by Saturday. Some were from the troop that had placed the peace pole in the park in 1999. They came to sign the petition to reclaim the park. They were upset that their peace pole might be displaced.

The h in the Asheville Citizen-Times is a helpful turn of events for all involved in Stopping Parkside and Saving our Park.

The very early hours Sunday morning brought another round of night riders, this time brandishing more than just threatening words, but a stick, "It looked like a baseball bat," lady Passion said. "They drove by in a new white truck. They came three times, and each time escalated the aggressive shouting ("Fu'kn' tree huggers!") and threats to cut the tree, she said.

"We had to call the police."
They won't be coming back, the police reported. "They weren't drunk, just stupid"

"We couldn't go back to sleep after that," Lady Passion said.
A grandmother and her daughter stopped by the Magnolia Sunday afternoon. "My grandson wanted to be sure the tree was safe and that the crystal was still hanging in the branches," she told us. "All my grandchildren have climbed this tree," she said. "And they've climbed many of the ones already cut down."

The crystal was still there, along with many more ornamental gifts that people have been bringing by day after day to show respect and honor for the Magnolia.

Christine told us that this Magnolia was the first she had ever seen. She came with her camera to catch just the right picture. She has her work on display in the perch at the Grove Corner Market. "I just hold the camera and Spirit takes the picture," she said.

As folks gathered in late afternooon, we had a lot of fun bantering about ideas for an "injunction function" barbeque as Ron termed it. The menu might include: Grilled Black Dogs
Hush Money Puppies, Jerk Stanley, and a side of Wanda Greens.

"Bill Stanley should go back to cooking Bar b Que, not trying to run our county government," Manoon suggested.

"His Bar b Que place never had much atmosphere," Jim added "You couldn't tell the difference between the hush puppies and the Bar b que.'

Steve took a tour of the old county jail a few days ago. It was built underneath the park where the Magnolia sits. Apparently a county employee has offices there. How much rent does the County pay Mr. Coleman for use of the underground gulag with its dark, windowless haunted cells? We wondered.

Coleman (not the developer) was by with more good ideas. "How about a movie night?"
"We're promoting a kind of general store front porch atmosphere here," Lady Passion said. "Anything that will help all sorts of folks feel welcome."

This Magnolia Watch is goodly work. It's important work. And its a fine way to spend some time on a hot summer's day.

Magnolia Watch Day 26-27: Full Moon Rising

The dust is flying behind the green screened fence surrounding the remaining undisputed parkland at City County Plaza. The large yellow CAT was busy all day scooping up mountains of dirt and moving it around like a child at play. With tens of millions to play with, the Pack Square Conservancy has managed little more than destruction and obstruction of our park. Its been a disaster of noise and dust and rubble and blocked off parkland for years now.

"When they've dug up every spot on Earth, what then?" our Cherokee friend John asked. He was back for a few hours Friday. We conversed with the background beep beep beep of the CAT rolling over the dirt in the devastated park across the fence and over the blaring sirens of fire engines going out on call. David brought a wind chime to provide some gentle contrast to the nerve grating noise.

A woman on her lunch break from the Police Department came over to wish us well. She said they have been really busy these days. "With the economy like it is," she said, "people who never were in trouble before are committing all kinds of crimes."

A weathered looking older man named Jack sat for awhile, then said he had to get home to take his seizure medicine. He said he'd never had seizures before he was beaten and kicked in the Buncombe County jail. He'd been arrested a few years back, he said. "My girlfriend was mad at me and charged me with assault." Though the charges were dismissed, Jack is still suffering the aftermath. "One cop got behind me and started pushing on me," Jack related. "I turned around and cussed at him. Then they started beating me," he said. "They got me down, put hand cuffs on me and started kicking. I had boot prints on the back of my legs, up my back and on my neck. I could barely move for a month. Then the seizures started."

Sometimes all we can do is listen. Sitting beneath this Magnolia, widening the circle of concern. Holding a space for the people.

Speaking of crimes, many who stop to talk about the County Commissioner's sale of our public parkland are emphatic: "These guys need to be voted out. They're just in it for the money, for their own benefit."

Everyone has a theory about who are the most corrupt and who are just incompetent, and everyone agrees that the corruption is long standing and deep.

Earlier this week a former civil engineer came by sharing a wealth of history and political tidbits from his 27 years work with the city. He pointed to the city building. "I can't see that building (Parkside Condos) sitting here blocking one of the most beautiful buildings in all of the Carolinas," he said. "I used to sit on a bench out here and have my lunch. It makes me so angry."

"This tree. It makes people reveal their secrets." Lady Passion said. Certainly it seems that once folks step off the sidewalk and into the shade of the tree they begin to relax. And if they take a seat, they usually stay awhile.

Lady Passion recounted a visit yesterday from an 88 year old woman who stopped by to rest in the shade. "She was so tired. She was suffering some from the heat," Lady Passion said. She talked about her childhood when she lived on Hazard Street. Long ago on hot summer nights she and her mother would come sit on the benches under the tree to stay cool.

"When she found out about this tree being imperiled," Lady Passion said, "She told me she just sat down and cried. She cried again sitting under the tree with us," Lady Passion said.

"I know I feel bad for this tree. How must she feel with some rich white guy coming in trying to steal her treasured memories of her and her mom."

Irene came by Friday afternoon. Her grandson Terry pushed her wheel chair over into the shade. They had some time before they had to get the next bus.
"I liked that park the way it was in the first place," Irene said. "Before they did all this tearing up." We had a cold drink in the cooler, and some donuts that Bob and Sue had dropped by earlier, so Irene and Terry stayed awhile to talk. "I'm glad ya'll are saving this tree," Terry said. "Its beautiful."

"Like your grandmother," I said. "Its beautiful like your grandmother."

When I left Friday afternoon, David was back on watch after a day's work. He'd been on night watch Thursday and was nodding out a bit. Darren was with him. "Word is out on the street about the Magnolia," he told us. "People are talking about it in Leiceister and Alexander and even at the Mall."

The 24/7 Magnolia Watch continues.

Magnolia Watch Day 25: "Ain't You Got a Right to the Tree of Life"

With the breezes sweet beneath the Magnolia today, my daughter Jessica called with the news:
"Your grandaughter, Josieanne Mariah, is here. She came at 1:08 p.m."

My daughter's home is a hard 24-hour Greyhound journey away in Texas, and I couldn't be there with her. So I left my post at the tree to have some quiet time to savor this special day, to walk in my garden, and to send my love along that resilient silver thread that connects our minds and hearts, even at this long distance.

As I write, here come the tears, rolling down my cheeks with gratitude and joy. And now my sweet daughter is on the phone again:

"I just felt like I needed to call you, mama." She sounded tired, and strong, and proud. That silver thread, that heart-to-heart connection, is strong and true. I needed then to hear her voice.

"I have a nuclear family, mama." she said. "Its pretty funny, isn't it?"

It was just we two for so many of her growing up years, and I get both Mother and Father's Day cards from her. Now she's a mama of two, with a fine supportive husband and wide, extended family.

Before I left the Magnolia today, Lady Passion, herself a grandmother of two, predicted: "You'll never forget where you were the day your granddaughter was born."

Sitting with our Magnolia. Holding the ground for the children of today, and for those to come. Like the children from the summer camp program at Asheville's First Baptist Church, its ornate dome obscured from view by a new boxy condo going up across the park. They stopped to hear the story of our endangered Magnolia.

"Why would anyone want to cut down that tree?" So many ask the same question. Incredulous at such a stupid idea.

Commissioner Ramsey was a no show. Steve came by about 3:30 to tell us. "He called to say he was afraid of being hijacked, of being photographed." So Steve went to meet him in his office in the formidable County Courthouse.

We had another rude incident. This one in broad daylight. I heard a man behind me approaching us as we sat in a semi circle by the tree this afternoon. "Does anyone have a light?" he asked. I turned just as he dropped his shorts and began edging forward half naked.

"Pull up your pants, young man." I admonished. "Didn't your mama teach you any manners?" or some such. He complied. Then approached rather too closely with a belligerent attitude about our claim that this was a "people's park." Calling us hypocrites.

"It's obviously turned a corner," Lady Passion remarked after the incident. "When weird people start coming up, don't dialog with them. Document it." David, who had come on call last night to bolster the night watch, showed us how to operate the video camera.

John was sitting across from me. He looked grim and angry after the expose. "There could of been children here," he said. John told us his great grandparents on both sides of his family are full Cherokee. "That leaves me somewhere in the middle, " he said. When I asked how he felt about the tree, he had a simple response: "Save it! It's beautiful. Mother Earth gave it to us. Let Mother Earth take it back."

Guy Carawan, of the Highlander Center, has a lovely song adapted from the people of John's Island. I've been playing as I write.

Gonna tell all my brothers,
Gonna tell all my sisters,
Gonna tell it to the world

Ain't You Got a Right to the Tree of Life?

Magnolia Watch Day 24: Thundermoon

A near-full moon was rising over City-County Plaza Wednesday night when I returned to our tree. Greywolf was chanting a native American prayer as he beat out the rhythm on "thundermoon" a large drum with a deep resonance. A small cluster of Magnolia Watch supporters gathered around. All seemed well and holy and good.

Lady Passion then related an incident that had happened earlier in the evening: two young men, with a military-like posture, walked past on the sidewalk and then moved in around the tree, making threatening comments about cutting it down. At the time there were about fifteen supporters present observing the interactions. The men didn't stay long.

"They were in a black SUV with a Nathan Ramsey sticker," Lady Passion related. Then, about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night, as about five of us were relaxing with the drumming, two more men approached--beefy, short hair, casually dressed. They cut across the park within a few feet of where we sat, and refused to acknowledge our greetings as they passed. They exuded a threatening air. Steve, Lady Passion, Gerri and I got up and followed them to the edge of the park while Dennis and Greywolf stayed back, watching.

"Hello. Good evening. Would you like to sign a petition?" we asked. The men continued walking, picking up their pace, toward City Hall where they stood for awhile out of sight in the alcove. We watched from a distance. Then Steve went to retrieve his camera from the car. As they emerged from the porch of City Hall, he filmed as they walked between the City County buildings and away.

Night and day people drive around the circular road in front of City Hall and stop to see who is still sitting with our tree, in our park, on our town square. After all the press coverage we are keenly aware of the need to continue the Magnolia Watch, and after last night, also on notice that there are those who do not wish us well. Any of you dear readers with a heart for this effort, please come see where you can help.

"Nathan Ramsey will be coming down to talk with us tomorrow," Steve told me. He had given the Commissioner a call inviting conversation. So Thursday, about 3:30 p.m., join us at the tree if you want to have a face to face with the chair of the Buncombe County Commission in our town square.

Wednesday afternoon I sat for about three hours enjoying sweet breezes and more wide-ranging conversations. Badger had just returned to Asheville via bicycle from Nashville, making much of the journey in the pouring rain. Dennis gave more details on his friend who had temporarily operated the crane visible across from the county building.

"They were whipping him like a dog, wanting him to work too fast with the concrete. he refused to work unsafe," Dennis reported. "That rig ain't the safest one," he said, pointing out the concrete ballast on the back that keeps it balanced. "Those blocks ain't even fastened together," he said. "If they fall, people will be killed."

Wayne came by again with news of changes and transitions at Zaccheus House. He has been a vocal advocate for the poor and unhoused in Asheville for some years.

More developers passed, "carrying the rolled up charts like a club," Steve observed. The scepter of the entitled class.

Bob and his wife were back. "This kind of development really goes hand in hand with the current administration in Washington," he said. "Basically it starts right at the top, from the president on down, with the attitude that we should have the haves that have and the have nots."

Wayne added his observations: "While the condos may represent an increase in the quality of life for those who can afford them, they will in the long run do nothing for the poor and middle class. After the construction labor is paid, we will still have homeless..."

Gary has just arrived. "Dixie is alone at the tree. Can I give you a ride there?" So I'm off for another day...a very special day for me as my daughter just called, she's on her way to the hospital in Dallas to give birth to my second grandchild.

"I'll call you mama when we bring her home."

Magnolia Watch Day 23: "A Liberty Tree"

"The Mayor came down to talk with me this morning," Lady Passion announced as I pulled up a chair Tuesday. "It was just Dennis and I sitting here when she came by. She wouldn't sit down. She stood right here under the tree."

"When the Mayor stands in front of you and comes to your place of direct action to tell you that the City Council focus is to return the land to the people and save the tree, then you've already won. All that's left is the details," a resolute Lady Passion asserted.

Dennis then chimed in with his account of the communication:

It was early. She waves, she comes over. She asks for time alone. I walk out of ear shot. They have a private discussion. This was seen by these old dead eyes.

Dennis is a man about town, and full of tidbits of information. We talked for awhile about the crane working on the parking garage being built across from the county building. We've been watching it day after day as it swings its heavy loads across the work site, high above the city. Dennis says he has a friend who was hired as a substitute crane operator on that rig for $10.65 an hour. After all the rains, the contractors were "pouring concrete at a record pace," Dennis said. "That's not the safest rig in the world. The only thing that keeps it safe, keeps it from turning over and killing people on the ground, is the man up in that glass box on top." Apparently the crane operator, who had a criminal record, objected to what he considered an unsafe operation of the crane. "They threatened to fire him if he didn't operate it," Dennis said. "They told him they knew he had a record, but he stood his ground. He shut it down for half a day. They had to call back the regular operator."

With so much destruction and construction about town, our city continues to feel under siege with all this development, and the safety needs of the people, so dreadfully impacted by the construction staging, are not adequately met.

"They're like carpet baggers, they're rapacious. They don't even have to prove financing," Lady Passion said. "They do really negative speculative ventures."

As if on cue, three such folk walked past our park. Steve approached them and was mid conversation when I came up to listen. I recognized one of the older men who had spoken on behalf of a developer or realtor's' association at the Planning and Zoning meeting on the Parkside issue. Steve was telling them about our park and tree and the historical significance of the Hayes Hobson Building. As the developers looked around the area, considering their options, Steve chimed in: "Sometimes you have to think about the whole and not just your self." Pointing toward the tree, he added: "It's something every city should have. A liberty tree."

As the afternoon unfolded, about 200 people arrived from throughout the city for the rally planned by Lindsey Simmerly, a former city council candidate, and Faces of Asheville photographer Jenny Bowen. The speakers, music, peaches and watermelons, balloons and even Ron Ogle's balanced rocks, gave the afternoon the feel of an old fashioned town square gathering. A fine demonstration of the will of "We the People."

During the planned work session and private discussions among City Council members, Magnolia Watch supporter and local contractor Coleman Smith took a seat beside Parkside Condominium developer Stewart Coleman in the council chambers. Coleman vs. Colman. One wearing his signature bandana and an Earth First! tee shirt, the other in his rich man's costume of khaki pants, dark blue blazer and striped tie and gold watch.

Council member Holly Jones stopped to speak with folks at the Magnolia prior to and after the meeting, as did councilman Mumpower.

The outcome, essentially, has the City lobbing the issue right back into lap of Buncombe County Commissioners, whose suspicious sale of public parkland created this convoluted conundrum.

MagnoliaWatch Day 22: Making the Revolution Beautiful

After all the weekend rains, Monday dawned clear and cool under the Magnolia. Throughout the course of the day we continued to gather signatures on the Petition (folks are eager to sign), and invited passersby to join us at Tuesday's rally.

As we widen the circle under the tree, reclaiming our public square, we settle in to some of the old ways of building community--taking time to just sit outside on a summer's day and enjoy the unhurried company of one another. The conversations go deep.

"You've picked a really sweet spot to do your action," one man stopped to say. "Making the revolution beautiful is important."

Bruce White spent much of Sunday afternoon with us as we reviewed a draft of the minutes of last week's Technical Review Committee. He was on his way home from his workplace at the Haywood Park Hotel.

"He pointed out an item in the draft TRC minutes: "loading zone should be moved to Marjorie or Spruce Street." It was a decision that no one remembered being mentioned at the meeting. "Who approved that? When did that happen?" Lady Passion asked.

Bruce and David Ireland have been working with the Cop Watch program, as advocates for those who experience the brunt of police violence. David comes by many mornings to take the 4 - 6 a.m. watch, letting others get a bit of shuteye, then he goes on to his full time work. "I do what I can," he says. Dennis Luallen, an East Tennessee native, has been helping out through the night shift, then going off during the day "to stand in line" for food and other social services. He came back after registering to vote, then picked up the petition and signed with a flourish.

The fencing around the park now routes folks past the Magnolia on the way to the Buncombe County courthouse, so we see many of the players in the criminal justice arena as they pass by: Seersucker- suited lawyers with their female assistants walking briskly, in tandem, clutching brief cases and boxes of papers; judges and judged, police officers and those pleading for relief.

Mid morning Monday, an older, small-framed African-American woman on her way back from court crossed the lawn. "An officer assaulted me," she said. "They tazed me. They laid me on the ground and tazed me. They say I bit an officer." She didn't stop to sit, but clearly wanted to have her story heard. "My lawyer said I'd be found guilty."

Leroy Baxter, 81, an Asheville native and folk artist with paintings on exhibit at UNCA library, pointed out across the now fenced off parkland: "They sawed all them trees down," he said. "Big trees." Mr. Baxter remembers the 10 cent street cars, and more recently the public benches that once provided a public space to rest near the Magnolia. He was in town to put some money on his water bill, he said, and pulled up a chair to sit awhile among the Ravelry knitters of Asheville, Jana, Heather and Jennifer, circled up with needles in hand, weaving beautiful things from a bin of hundred year old rug yarn retrieved from a friend's attic.

"They've just done so much ugly stuff here. I grew up on these streets, playing amongst them," Leroy said. "It's just awful."

Russel Johnson, another Asheville native, who speaks out on community issues at Mars Hill College and UNCA, came by to talk about the development. "It's economic greed. It's wrong. It's very wrong," he said. "I grew up in that church, (Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church) I learned to public speak in that church. ...Somebody's got to stand up."

As we were talking, Russell nodded and greeted Judge Calvin Hill. "Good afternoon your honor," He said, receiving a return nod by the passing judge. "He's been ruling in the right direction on a lot of things," Russell commented. "He's ruling with the perspective of the people."

"We're practicing Democracy," I called out to one inquisitive passerby. "Looks like you're getting good at it," he replied.

Just sitting, under the Magnolia.

Magnolia Watch Day 21: The Blue Jay

Trees do not live indoors, they live out doors and that is where you have to defend them. How do we get it across that if you're going to defend nature, you've got to be out in it. It's not always a sunny day. -- Lady Passion, at Asheville's Magnolia

A bold Blue Jay accompanies us at the Magnolia, pecking at the damp ground or flitting from one branch to the other. It's defending its home--the Magnolia in City-County Plaza.

Its been a week now of 24/7 presence with our endangered tree, and hundreds of folks have come by to learn more about the circumstances that have so imperiled our Magnolia and the public commons so critical to a healthy Democracy.

"I asked today what should I do. I asked for an omen," Lady Passion told me Sunday afternoon as the rain clouds gathered. "A big blue jay has been watching me for days," she said. "Blue jays are bold as brass. I see that as an omen to keep up the boldness."

Boldness, yes. Persistence, yes. But as in any direct action campaign, from the Salt March in India to the Sanitation Workers strike in Memphis, to the defense of the mountain tops of West Virginia, resilience and persistence must be balanced.

As promised, Mr. Stewart Coleman, the developer of this Parkside Condo project, emailed Steve Rasmussen, with his assurances that the Magnolia would not be cut in the night. Here are excerpts from that email:

I had promised Dixie that I would give her a Letter regarding "Notice of
the tree removal" today, but I never had time to get my staff to produce it. Once again I do not feel, that now that the fences are up (Pack Squire),and you cannot be seen from College Street and the afternoon lighting storms,I have some worry about your safety (Dixie). I would prefer that you only have your presents during daylight hours. PLEASE allow this e-mail to be a guarantee that I will give you 5 day notice of the Magnolia removal with in the next 30 Days after the 5 day notice. Also I give you my word that the tree will not be cut down after dark. This is no trick!
Tomorrow I will give you, and or Dixie a letter that is on my Letterhead stating
the same. As I told you earlier today, I still respect your devotion to support
your thoughts on this project and the Magnolia Tree, I think that it is better that you spend your evenings at home which is where I will be, and you should be.

Tuesday the City Council will meet for a "work session" to discuss the Parkside issue. Our hope is that this meeting will further assure the protection of the tree so that we may all go home and sleep in the safety of our own beds, and that the bold Blue Jay can return to its nest in the branches of our Magnolia.

Magnolia Watch Day 20: Through the Night With the Light from Above

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.

~Henry David Thoreau

It was quite late Saturday evening before I could get down to the Magnolia. The Watchers were settling in for the night when I arrived. I'd been home all day catching up with my garden work and preparing for a gathering to honor Henry David Thoreau's birthday. I caught a ride down to the tree with my last party guest and we spent about an hour catching up on all the news from beneath the Magnolia.

There continues to be a need for night watch shifts to support Lady Passion's round-the-clock commitment and allow her adequate safe, uninterrupted sleep. Its really quite a unique opportunity to observe the life of the city at all hours and to meet some of the wide assortment of people who stop by.

Friday evening a man who said he had spent the day "up there tuning the chimes" atop city hall came over to say: "I can't believe your county sold parkland...that's just shameful!" His sentiments echoed those of the vast majority of people passing by who stop to talk. "They're really ripping the heart out of Asheville," another person lamented.

Sue Hird and her husband came over from West Asheville. I asked what drew them here:. "The tree and the idea of someone who feels arrogant enough that he could destroy it," she said. "There are very few green spots in town. It would be a shame to see it gone."

"The indigenous people and elders I work with are helping keep this place safe," a woman came by to tell us. I am happy to learn of those additional blessings as we continue on our way, depending on the kindness and support of the community to build an ever widening circle of protection around our treasured Magnolia.

Friday night, the freshly tuned chimes rang out clear:

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

Magnolia Watch Days 18-19: Asheville's Front Porch

Violet and her boyfriend were two among many people who stopped by on Thursday before the steady afternoon rains came.

Violet had just been to court where she says she got a continuance on a ticket for "urinating in public." The Fine of $15 is bad enough, but the Court Costs of $125 is a shocking amount to demand from an unhoused person responding to an urgent biological need in a town where few public facilities are available.

Last night the high priestess and I experienced a taste of that dilemna. We were off in search of bladder relief well after midnight, and had to cajole our way past a bouncer into a closed- for- the-night bar, to find a legitimate place to pee.

"It's demeaning for two grandmother crones to have to beg for a bathroom," Lady Passion said as we made our way back to the Magnolia.

Our central park is closed off now with a chain-link fence covered by a woven-plastic screen. The multiples of millions price tag for the so-called redesign by Pack Square Conservancy has made a mess of our downtown. The earthmoving machines, grinding and screeching all day, assault the senses, and I've not talked with any who favor the way this massive and much delayed project is going forward.

One man, who declined to sign the petition calling for eminent domain, asked "Where were you when they [Pack Square Conservancy] cut all the blooming Cherry trees?" That horrible slaughter was done spring before last, without any public notice. I wonder where was he?

Another WLOS, Channel 13 film crew was out again on Wednesday. The reporter seemed intent on focusing on the magic and pagan witchcraft aspect of the story, but Lady Passion is savvy to such attempts to marginalize and limit the discussion. While not denying the magical, she emphasized the year-long and multi-faceted efforts of many individuals and groups working to reclaim our parkland and save our Magnolia from destruction.

It is the "momentum and the consensus of an entire city that wants to save our tree," she said. "It's magic, yes. But it's also the citizens using the democratic process to encourage elected officials to right this wrong."

Emily, a 24 year old Asheville native, stopped by on Thursday to thank us for being there with the Magnolia.

"It would be a tragedy, a real tragedy to cut down this tree," she said. "I still have hope. Not in the city officials, but in the people of Asheville. They won' let this happen."

Many people come by each evening to widen the circle of conversation. Former city council candidate Donna Bateman and her friend Sharon Brien rolled up in wheel chairs about the time a young couple arrived with a photograph of their 1999 wedding under the Magnolia. Folks spilled in after Drinking Liberally and gave a report on plans for the rally scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, and all throughout the evening, until well after midnight, more people came who had seen the television reports, or read the growing volume of blog postings (See StopParkside.org).

Our Magnolia Watch has become the front porch of Asheville in many ways in recent weeks, and the Magnolia's esteemed presence helps set the mood for relaxed conversations. We've only had a few tense moments, and ironically these were outbursts from activists who disagreed with our strategy. But even these settled down to more congenial conversation under the Magnolia's spell.

A developer stopped to say: "My mother and I had our lunch under that tree. She is gone now. So I have some sentimental memories." He told me he liked Mr.Coleman's building, "but it sure would be nice to keep this beautiful tree." When I asked him to pull up a chair, he said "Folks think ya'll are part of the Pack Square Conservancy bunch, and they don't want any part of that."

No one passed through the park during my 3:30- 6 a.m. night watch. I kept my eyes open and my sunglasses on as defense against the bombardment of streetlights, but there was no relief from the loud and incessant hum of the massive air conditioning unit that even overpowered the early morning bird song.

"Did you ever think you'd be sleeping out in front of the City Hall?" Lady Passion asked before drifting off to sleep.

Well, no. And I can't say I slept much. But we both feel compelled to remain with our threatened Magnolia and to make a public spectacle of the ruinous consequences of private development on public parkland. The fact that Mr. [Black Dog Realty] Stewart Coleman has allowed us to remain, night and day, without issuing a complaint, is a curious twist in this unfolding drama.

"He's given us permision to practice Direct Action against him on the very property he claims as his own," Coleman Smith (not the developer, of course) observed.

S.B. Coleman's high dollar development for the financially indulgent will not benefit the working people of Asheville who are bending to a breaking point in these hard times. And hard times are dramatically evident just a few blocks from our disputed parkland.

About 6 a.m. I set out on foot for the Health Department to see about getting some help with a nagging tooth ache. I was the ninth person to arrive at the doors, making my way there through the maze of construction fences that obstruct pedestrian pathways throughout downtown. I had heard that one had to get to the Buncombe County Health Department early to line up for the dental clinic. But I was surprised to see so many already there, most having arrived as early as 4:30 a.m. to wait for hours on the unlit porch. Only the first four were granted appointments for care when the doors opened at 7 a.m. The rest of us were turned away, including a pregnant woman in obvious pain, and a young restaurant manager who said this was his fourth try for an appointment to get help with painful teeth.

Perhaps if all of Asheville's uninsured working people were to take their toothaches to the steps of the County Building and groan and moan in unison until some relief were offered, we might see some change in priorities.

It is unjust and outrageous to spend millions to redesign a park that was already well loved and well used, and it would be an even more egregious error to spend millions to pay off a developer who claims title to a piece of our city's heartland, while the people in this city are routinely arrested, fined and extorted for court costs or jailed for a day because they must urinate out of doors, or are made to wait in line for hours in the pre-dawn darkness for a slim chance at pain relief at a county dental clinic.

We who believe in justice cannot rest. We who believe in justice cannot rest until it comes.

Magnolia Watch Day 16: Wholesome Conversations

Shortly after I arrived at the Magnolia this morning, a little before 9 a.m. a woman coming from the parking lot called out: "He's coming! He's coming! He just drove up in a big black SUV. Quick! Put a hex on him."

Sure enough, it was the silver-haired Black Dog Mr. Coleman himself. Lady Passion, still wearing her hooded cloak from the night chill, intercepted him at the top of the stairs, and Steve and I joined her for what became a 20 minute conversation in front of city hall.

I am continuously impressed with how Lady Passion and Diuvei of Coven Oldenwilde engage in dialog with adversaries in this Black Dog venture. Meeting eye to eye, well informed, articulate and undeterred by the power of money, they hold their ground and state their case on behalf of the Magnolia with great skill.

Mr. Coleman, who now claims ownership of the parcel of public parkland where the Magnolia resides, told Lady Passion, "I admire you for staying with the tree. Just please don't allow adults to climb in it." He pointed out a broken limb, damaged long before our Magnolia Watch began.

Certainly the tree is old, and fragile at her outer limbs, and we have repeatedly cautioned people who begin to climb to be careful. So we agreed. It would be better for this tree if adults refrain from climbing in the branches.

"Do you want me to call you before I do anything to my tree?" he asked.

"The tree is a sovereign being," I countered. "It is not your tree."
"We want assurances in writing that you won't harm the tree and will make efforts to protect it," Lady Passion responded.

"Why don't you do the magnanimous thing and return this park to the people?" I asked. "That would garner a wealth of good will, far more than the dollar bills you will amass if you build this condominium."
"I would love to," Mr. Coleman replied, "but I have fiduciary responsibilities to other people. ...I want to be made whole."

Made whole? What does that mean? And who are these other people in this ill-conceived venture of the Black Dog Realty and Swag Holdings?

Throughout the morning a lot of friends and supporters dropped by. Snakehawk, back from Costa Rica, went to get coffee for us with a few dollars another passer by had left, and Weezel, who had stayed through the night, came by with a late lunch to share after the afternoon downpour. Karen VanEman was by, and Clay and lots of other folks we didn't know who have been following Russ Bowen's coverage on Channel 13 TV.

Bill Fisburne of the Asheville Tribune approached us. "I don't have a dog in this fight," he said, but since he would feature Mr. Coleman on this week's paper, he said, he would feature the opposition in the next. While he was photographing us, Police Chief Bill Hogan walked by. Lady Passion summoned him. "Hey, Hogan, come on over!"

The police chief explained, "We're the peacekeepers...we've come a long way in law enforcement. We teach about emotional intelligence." Then he explained his role to "serve all citizens and remain apolitical," and we explained ours: If the developer moves to cut the tree, there might be many who will stay to protect her, we told him. "Can you assure us we will not be pepper sprayed or tasered?" we asked. "Will we be warned before we are arrested?"

The police chief promised we would not be tasered or pepper sprayed and would be warned before arrest. That said, the conversation was congenial under the fragrant shade of our Magnolia this Wednesday afternoon--"A day for communication," Lady Passion remarked.

It certainly seemed that way. About mid-day, Mr. Coleman himself came back, in the company of Tom Israel who is working with him on this nefarious project. They had just spent two hours in dialog with the folks at the Western North Carolina Alliance.
"How'd the meeting go?" Lady Passion asked.
"It was a positive meeting," Mr. Coleman said. "Those people have good hopes."

Then, standing beneath our treasured Magnolia, Mr. Coleman warned: "If I'm going to cut down my tree, I'm going to cut it down within the next thirty days. I'll give you warning."

One passerby, among the dozens who stopped to eagerly sign the petition to reclaim our public parkland, summed up the sentiments of most: "We've seen enough. We've see our little town torn art. We've seen our mountains torn down. We don't need any more condos for the wealthy."

Magnolia Watch Day 15: "Clog Him Out of Town"

"How can this one man have more power than the city, the county, and the people of Asheville? We should drive the rascal out of town, old fashioned style." -- Lena Feldmann

The U.S. flag at the Buncombe County Courthouse is at half mast. Jesse Helms is well and finally gone and some felt it fitting to officially mourn his passing. Word is out that others will be throwing a party.

A crew of workmen spent the day pounding in fence posts and unrolling chain link fencing, cutting off the main section of the park. A block away, the heavy earth moving equipment was digging and piling dirt, refashioning the area were 45 cherry trees once bloomed into some out-of-town designer's idea of a faux waterfall. The noise is rivaled only by the frequent sirens when the fire engines roll out. City workers were busy planting geraniums and other flowers in the small circle of earth in the middle of the roundabout at city hall, and several times police cars passed through, the officer giving a friendly wave.

The Magnolia remains a place apart. Special in a way only revealed when one takes the time to be there awhile. I arrived about 9 a.m. Lindsey and Lady Passion were wide awake after the first overnight with our tree.

"It was beautiful, calm, safe and quiet," Lady Passion said of her first night under the tree. "It felt enfolding, cloaking...the night breezes with the Magnolia scent in the air, and a perfect balance of light and darkness ...a hands off sacredness seemed to permeate everything."

Lots of people have been dropping by, signing the petition, sitting awhile with the tree. Many passersby still did not know the threat to our tree. Everyone was eager to sign the petition and dismayed that anyone would allow such a tree to be killed.

One woman who had attended the Technical Review Committee meeting yesterday said she was having a hard time dealing with the anger she felt at the threat to the tree.
"I was pacing in my office. I was so angry and didn't know what to do. So I just came down to the tree."

I missed the afternoon deluge, but when I returned after the storm, Lady Passion was drying her blankets on the limbs of the tree. Russ Bowen of WLOS Channel 13 and his camera man were back again looking for the knitters who canceled because of rain.

Lena came by for awhile and observed that "every person that I know, friends, family co-workers, people I meet around town, all oppose this condo project." She wanted to know "How can this one man have more power than the city, the county, and the people of Asheville? We should drive the rascal out of town, old fashioned style," she said. "Let's get all the fiddlers, cloggers and old timers together and clog him out of town!"

"Conservative Republican" Carl Mumpower came by in the late afternoon and after introductions all around shared his views and opinions and listened to ours.

"At no point do I get a sense of him [Developer Stewart Coleman] bullying or trying to break the rules...he feels bullied, that everyone is ganging up on him. It's not his fault he was misinformed."

"Eminent domain is a real sticky slope," Mr. Mumpower continued. "When you start taking a man's property, if we do it to that guy it sets a precedence, creates opportunity for us to steal other people's property."

After some dialog, he said in parting, "Aren't Magnolias wonderful trees? Its an antidepressant, you know, Magnolia bark....Ya'll continue to fight the good fight as your heart tells you best, and I will continue with what I have to do."

I left the Magnolia around dinner time to attend a gathering at the home of Judith and David Wheeler welcoming visitors from Hiroshima, Japan, including a survivor of the H-bomb. They are here for a program tomorrow night at UNCA, Laurel Forum. "Hiroshima-Nagasaki: Images and Stories from Eyewitness Accounts."

If time allows, some of our international visitors may stop by our Magnolia to extend their hopes and prayers that the life of this ancient tree will be spared destruction.

Magnolia Watch Day 14: Round the Clock Vigil Begins

"We have no requirements that would mandate the preservation of that magnolia tree."

Shannon Tuch, Chair of Asheville's Technical Review Committee

Lady Passion, High Priestess of Coven Oldenwilde, has vowed to sit with our Magnolia tree day and night as long as this ancient tree is under death threat. Her magical rites around the tree last year first alerted media interest and brought public attention to the dirty dealings resulting in the sale of our public park. Our Magnolia has held forth with eminent domain for nearly a hundred years. It is time to stand with her. Come anytime and sit with us at the Magnolia. Bring some food and drink to share. Bring your Magnolia memories. Bring the stubborn weight of your resistance to this deep violation of the heart of our city.

The unanimous vote today of Asheville's Technical Review Committee (TRC) to "approve with conditions" the Parkside condominium development has further imperiled our much revered Magnolia and the parkland bequeathed to the people in 1901 by George W. Pack as "Public forever!"

Dozens of people opposing the project filled the seats in the very small conference room for the 1:30 p.m. meeting. Many more crowded in the hallway outside.

"We don't usually see a crowd this large," Committee Chair Shannon Tuch said, and proceeded to let the public know the strict limits on comments "to technical issues regarding the development." Thus, the heart of the matter--the sale of public parkland, the destruction of our
treasured trees, the cultural impact of such a private development on the diverse fabric of our city, was effectively muzzled.

When the developer, Stewart Coleman and his gang of colluders arrived, very few found a vacant seat. They huddled in a tight circle outside the room until called forward to speak. Staff member and city planner Alan Glines was curiously not present at this critical meeting.

The Director of the Pack Square Conservancy spoke, and in language that presumed the condominium project would go forward, opposed only the planned loading zone as "inconsistent with park use." She also wanted assurances that when a new road was built that the developer would be responsible for replacing any storm water drainage work previously paid for by the Pack Square Conservancy, and that matching trees and shrubs would be planted in keeping with the Pack Square design.

Peter Loewer, the "wild gardener", author, and member of the Tree Commission, noted that projects passed with conditions by previous TRC rulings have done significant harm to neighborhoods throughout the city. "We have left the barn door so wide open, nobody is left standing upright."

Though most who opposed the project were not surprised by the rubber-stamp defeat, it was particularly disappointing that Tree Commission member Susan Roderick, Director of Quality Forward, a group supposedly concerned with our city's treasured trees, could not stand upright on behalf of our magnolia. Her vote could have stopped this destruction in the heart of our city. Her vote could have saved our tree. At the very least she could have spoken in defense of the tree and abstained from her complicity in its execution.

"If the Magnolia tree is privately owned," she excused herself, "Its up to the developer."
But the parkland belongs to the people, and the Magnolia has eminent domain there. It is a sovereign being, not to be bought and sold in backroom deals.

Months ago, when I and other raging grannies visited Susan at Quality Forward office to ask her to speak out for the Magnolia, she told us that since it was determined that the tree could not survive a move, the Developer offered to donate $20,000, about the cost of moving such a tree, to her non-profit, Quality Forward, to purchase other trees that she could plant around town. Such a deal! It stinks as much as this whole damn project!

For more information on the Parkside Condo issue:

Scrutiny Hooligans
Downtown Asheville
Coven Oldenwilde