two Melbourne-y things, one good, one bad.

the good is the Nicholas Building, which has just had its annual open studios. The talent, quirkiness and sheer intestingness of the Melbourne artists hidden behind those timber doors off 30's hallways that look like they belong in a noir movie is endless...

the bad is this: the ringbarking of the Separation Tree. A 400-year-old gum that has stood in Melbourne since before Europeans landed in Sydney, let alone Melbourne. Since Shakespeare was writing. The site of celebrations of the establishment of Victoria. and someone, for some reason, which utterly escapes and bewilders me, cut a one-metre ring into its bark...just thinking about it really makes me want to weep. I loved that tree when I lived near the gardens. it was precious for so many reasons. there can be no "why"....