I had a coffee at the tea shop in St. Andrews Park the other day and noticed huge yellow ribbons tied to some of the trees around me. A printed card at the shop explained that this was a project by Lucie Smailes, inviting the public to participate by writing dedications on markers for those they have loved and lost, and planting them in the ground at the base of the trees.
A closing ceremony will take place on 30th July (a full moon night), where contributors are invited back to place tea lights with their dedications.
Remarkably, Lucie Smailes' interpretation of the Yellow Ribbons significance is a new one. The notion of tying a yellow ribbon around an old oak tree signifies enduring love for someone very much alive and relevant to the person tying that ribbon, not someone lost. Wikipedia gives good account of the variety of ways a yellow ribbon has featured in popular culture. Most recently it signifies the support for american soldiers serving in Iraq.
My first exposure to it comes from the lyric of the hit song by the 70s vocal act Dawn.
The story is sung from the perspective of a man who has been serving a 3-year sentence for a non-specified crime and he imagines that the girl of his heart may have moved onto someone else. In a letter to her, he asks that she tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree, thereby implying that she still wants him. The idea is that he may see it from the bus when he arrives home and spare him the embarrassment of asking her directly. As the song relates, she makes her feelings known by tying A HUNDRED YELLOW RIBBONS around that ole oak tree :)
