Below the equator vI: Among the thickly rooted trees

[Statuary in the Plaza San Martin de Tours. The park with the thickly rooted trees. Photo is mine]

I was thinking about Ubers as ours clipped along Avenue Pueyrredon on our way to an art museum. I made a list of observations about the car service, comparing the ride here to a similar ride we would be taking in Manhattan. And here is what I was thinking about:

-In every ride we’ve taken, the radio was playing. And it was always music. No Traffic & Transit, All News/All The Time, or a commercial of some kind. I liked that. The music was Argentine and I appreciated the fresh voices, the melody and the sound of Spanish songs. I especially liked the total lack of rap. I just don’t like the genre, the pounding beat and the often harsh tone of the lyrics. That’s me. In addition, the Uber drivers rarely talk to you. The ones that do just want to practice their English. Further, the wait time hardly exceeded seven minutes.

But most of all, I liked the fact that it is a very inexpensive way to get around this truly vast city. Our average cost for a ride was around $5.00 USD. No, that’s not a typo. It’s very affordable.

But, I digress.

Days before, as we approached Parque Carlos Thays, we curved around to the right. That’s when I caught a glimpse of a cluster of trees to my left. I craned my neck to get a better view.

Wow, I thought. Those are some very cool trees. Very cool, indeed.

I made a note of where we were in my little Moleskin book. (I highly recommend these books. Ideal for so many things, historically intended for the traveler.) These trees reminded me of a Eucalyptus tree I saw in Key West. These are absolutely amazing trees in many ways but what mostly strikes you when you see them is the trunk and the top of the root system. There is really no other tree that has a unique lower portion and a soaring, leafy over-story. On the ground, beneath these trees are small brown nut-like pods.

Three days later we Ubered to the small park and set about exploring the flora. We got out of the car and found ourselves on the edge of a large Saturday afternoon Craft Market. It didn’t take me long to find a belt that became the first purchase of the day. There was a cool hat that I bought for Elias, my grandson.

[I thought this would look great on the head of my grandson. It would compliment his awesome dark wavy hair. And it would say to passersby, my grandpa got this for me in South America. Photo is mine]

I looked across the busy street, through the tents of craft sellers, and saw the leaves swaying in the breeze. Earlier, Mariam had googled the park and found it on a map. It was labelled The Thickly Rooted Trees. That was our destination. We made our way past the many items being sold…including this curious item:

[There isn’t a whole lot to be said here. If you’re wondering, we didn’t buy it. Photo is mine]

I heard something to my left as we walked down the sidewalk. Music. Not a blaring radio, but a real one-man band:

[Video is mine]

Then it was on to the park. These are Gomero or Gum trees. And they have developed an interesting trunk. These are the same trees that I stood beside in 2023 in Florida.

This is where I spent an hour, roaming among and stepping into the spaces of the Gum tree.

[The Gum Tree. Video is mine]

So why the fascination with these trees? I look at the video and I think I see something spooky in the scene. The roots seem to crawl out from the soil like fingers of some buried giant trying to escape the earth.

I love these trees…beautiful and eerie…like all good stories. And these trees, this city, the music, the people all have unique stories.

Life is a story.