Saturday, October 27, 2012

Shoe Tree





Before you come UP here to Australia for your holiday of a lifetime there are things you should know about Australia.
The animals of course, many and varied, weird and wonderful they are too, but lets talk about the population of humans, now we're really talking weird….
Australians can find a good laugh where it ought not be, I guess we've always had to or there'd be precious little laughing going on up here.
Among the best fun is poking fun at your betters.. (for lack of a better term)…(turns head to side and spits downward…sorry Max!)




I was resting against a tree one hot day watching a single ant struggle with it's burden of one large crumb. As I watched it toil over rough ground it simply tripped over it's own front foot and face planted into the dust, it let go it's crumb and circled menacingly for several seconds gnashing it's fangs before resuming it's crumby journey. It seemed angry, very angry.
I laughed until I had tears in my eyes. Who knew ants got angry? Who knew they could feel embarrassed? Who knew they could trip over? …all those legs and he still couldn’t get it right.





Where was I… Oh yeah,

  THE SHOE TREE.
S 34° 32.097 E 135° 40.226

Driving along a quiet country road between Port Lincoln and Cummins last weekend I came across a typically absurd Aussie joke. (South Australia)
As I pulled over to take a few photos and collect the nearby Geocache   (  http://www.geocaching.com/guide/  ) another car pulled up with two very old women in it. It turned out that one of the women had come to check that her shoes were still in good shape. She told me the story thus:



Some unknown local had at some unknown time and for some unknown reason tied two mens shoes together by the laces and thrown them over a high branch at the side of the road. (There are no houses, turns, intersections nor anything remarkable within many miles.)

That’s it.. end of story!
So.. someone else wrote their name and date on a pair of shoes and threw them over the branch.
So.. someone else wrote their name and date on a pair of shoes and threw them over the branch.
So.. someone else wrote their name and date on a pair of shoes and threw them over the branch…. you get the idea.. right?




Here we are many years later and this poor old tree is festooned with shoes, there are many on other branches, some right at the top and some in every corner of the tree.
There are none dropped on the ground, none old and gnarled and none full of spider webs, someone is doing the housework.
I'm told there in an Underwear tree somewhere in South Australia and I know of another covered in bits of cloth tied to every branch.

You may decide you want to ask 'Why?'…but that would be like yelling "The king has no clothes!" You don’t ask why, you just go along with the joke (whatever that was) or not..

To the Grammar Nazis: Yeah, I know…but what you going to do….



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9 comments:

Windsmoke. said...

In my neck of the woods i find shoes like that hanging from over head power lines and rumour has it that they mark the boundaries of the local drug dealers.

Twisted Scottish Bastard said...

There's a bra bush in NZ. (Down the South Island somewhere)

I wouldn't be able to throw a pair of shoes on that tree. I'd just feel like a heel.

Tempo said...

Hi Windsmoke, Ive heard that story as well though I really have no idea if it's true.
Hey TSB, So I guess this happens in other places too, thank *dog for that. *selective dyslexia

Kal said...

You lives in one loopy continent my friend.

River said...

That's an interesting tree!
I've seen the shoes over the power lines in many cities and also believe they mark the local drug dealers area.
I've heard of a bra fence somewhere, I think NSW, but can't be sure, could be SA.
I wonder who starts these things? What happens to make them think, "I'll just stop here and hook my knickers over that branch, then we'll come back this way in a year and see what's happened"?
I'm also curious as to who is doing the housekeeping on the shoe collection. You may have to organise a stake-out and catch them in the act with your camera.

Tempo said...

Hi Kal, Thats an odd statement coming from a Canadian mate...
Hi River, I once marked a fishing spot by tying an old hat to a fence. Two years later it was still there and still alone...go figure!

Jen said...

That's one thing I love about geocaching - it takes you to some interesting places you'd have never found otherwise. I'm so bad lately at logging my finds...

Tempo said...

Hi Jen, I noticed you were still at 63 (I think) This cache was actually my 500th find so I will always remember this one. Ive been to so many really cool places I would have simply driven past otherwise.

Argentum Vulgaris said...

You can't fool me with that cockamammy story... It's a shoe tree!

AV