{"id":55982,"title":"Beba, the Beech-Tree of Bebington","description":"From the Greengatherer\u2019s JournalMorning comes quietly here.  Before the village has fully stirred, before gates open and paths grow busy, light begins to gather across the grass.  Beba stands within it","content":"

From the Greengatherer\u2019s Journal<\/strong><\/p>

Morning comes quietly here.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Before the village has fully stirred, before gates open and paths grow busy, light begins to gather across the grass.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Beba stands within it.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Her bark carries the soft silver of beechwood, pale against the darker trees beyond. Behind her, gravestones settle into low rows, softened by moss and time. The church is still partly lost in the morning haze.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I have passed this way many times.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

And I know Beba well enough to know where her branches ought to be.<\/p>

<\/p>

\"87vuhiwxq5yudfwd4uxe5dwjrobskvcwlxqadkegkdhjbb4f.jpg.jpg?w=1140&project=beastly-boroughs-416041&v=2\"\u00a0<\/p>

The Evening Before<\/strong><\/p>

I had been here the previous evening, later than usual.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The last of the daylight had almost gone from the churchyard, although a little remained above the rooftops. Beba stood beside the path as she always did, her upper branches moving gently in the wind.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I stopped beneath her to make a note about the first beech leaves beginning to turn.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

That was when I noticed the lowest branch.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

It stretched towards one of the older gravestones, its leaves hanging just above the stone.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

There was nothing remarkable about that.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I wrote it down only because a single yellow leaf had become caught against the lettering.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Then the church clock sounded.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I closed the journal and went home.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Before Sunrise<\/strong><\/p>

This morning, I returned before sunrise.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The yellow leaf was still there.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The branch wasn't.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I stood on the path and looked upwards.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Beba's lowest branch now rested several feet away, extending towards the wall instead.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

There had been wind during the night, but wind moves leaves and twigs. It does not generally rearrange the branches of a mature beech tree.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

At least, I don't believe it does.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I walked around Beba once.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Then again.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The ground beneath her was undisturbed. There were no broken branches and nothing to suggest that anybody had been working there.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Beba offered no assistance.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Beba<\/strong><\/p>

As the light strengthened, the whole thing began to seem rather foolish.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

There was Beba.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

A beech tree in a Bebington churchyard.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Nothing more mysterious than that.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

A gate opened beyond the wall. Somewhere nearby, a car started. Two birds began arguing on a rooftop.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The ordinary morning was arriving.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I looked back at the gravestone.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The yellow leaf was still resting against the lettering.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Perhaps I had remembered the branch incorrectly.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

That seemed the most sensible explanation.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I wrote it down.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Then I noticed something else.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

There were three fresh beech leaves lying at the foot of the stone.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

They were green.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Morning<\/strong><\/p>

By the time I left, sunlight had reached the churchyard.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Beba's silver bark had lost the strange softness it possessed in the half-light. Her branches were simply branches again, spreading above the grass exactly as branches should.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Someone passed along the path outside the wall.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

They didn't look towards her.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Why would they?<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Beba has stood here through countless ordinary mornings. People pass beneath her branches, seasons turn around her and village life carries on.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Perhaps that is why Treefolk are so easily overlooked.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

In daylight, there is usually very little to see.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I left before the sun rose fully.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

A door closed somewhere beyond the wall.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Beba remained.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I looked back once from the gate.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

For a moment, I thought one of her branches was moving.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

There was no wind.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I did not go back to check.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

-<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>From the Morning Pages of the Greengatherer\u2019s Journal<\/strong><\/p>","urlTitle":"beba-the-beech-tree-of-bebington","url":"\/blog\/beba-the-beech-tree-of-bebington\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/beba-the-beech-tree-of-bebington\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/beastlyboroughs.com\/blog\/beba-the-beech-tree-of-bebington\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1776356169,"updatedAt":1788969041,"publishedAt":1788969041,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":405864,"name":"Beastly Boroughs"},"tags":[{"id":4548,"code":"the-green-gatherersjournal","name":"TheGreenGatherersjournal","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/the-green-gatherersjournal\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/keqxqwh89nnuolssafm6yohmfazhw8q1tgqnz5nisgwkdpqq.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/keqxqwh89nnuolssafm6yohmfazhw8q1tgqnz5nisgwkdpqq.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/keqxqwh89nnuolssafm6yohmfazhw8q1tgqnz5nisgwkdpqq.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":55964,"title":"Meet the Greengatherer \u2014 Walking the Peninsula","url":"\/blog\/meet-the-greengatherer-walking-the-peninsula\/","urlTitle":"meet-the-greengatherer-walking-the-peninsula","division":405864,"description":"When the wind turns from the sea and the light begins to change, I find myself walking again.  The air carries salt and leaf together. Grass shifts","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/urqfwx4ql0sc1n4eeik3ecnqfumjhvcnipn7uf858juezvx3.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/urqfwx4ql0sc1n4eeik3ecnqfumjhvcnipn7uf858juezvx3.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":55966,"title":"When the Roots Begin to Stir","url":"\/blog\/when-the-roots-begin-to-stir\/","urlTitle":"when-the-roots-begin-to-stir","division":405864,"description":"A Spring Entry from the Greengatherer\u2019s Journal The frost has loosened its hold.  I felt it first beneath my feet.  The ground no longer hums with winter\u2019s stillness; instead, there is a quiet stirring below \u2014 a slow unfurling","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vjxlm0ulpn2hrseew7evoktbhzbe7xhin9nqhdivzxhv3arb.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vjxlm0ulpn2hrseew7evoktbhzbe7xhin9nqhdivzxhv3arb.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":55983,"title":"Hoya, the Coastal-Tree of Hoylake","url":"\/blog\/hoya-the-coastal-tree-of-hoylake\/","urlTitle":"hoya-the-coastal-tree-of-hoylake","division":405864,"description":"From the Greengatherer\u2019s JournalYou can hear the sea in Hoylake long before you reach it.  Sometimes it is the water itself.  Sometimes it is only the wind","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ak6flkhcz8nlsy0lvexvntyvkvu2fi1gvyb5kkezdbhzrxbi.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ak6flkhcz8nlsy0lvexvntyvkvu2fi1gvyb5kkezdbhzrxbi.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}