TO THE EDITOR:
To my dear Tar Heel town: It has come to my attention that the day is approaching on which the great and holy ginkgo shall shed its leaves. The ginkgo tree is an ancient and mysterious floral phenomenon, a living fossil, relative to trees living more than 270 million years ago in the wild forests of northern China.
The ginkgo’s presence on the campus of our great school is a testimony to the fertile and rich soil we are blessed with here at Carolina. One of the ginkgo’s great mysteries is its sudden and short-lived shedding of leaves, a process that lasts 24 hours and enriches the lives of those who observe tenfold.
My Carolina companions, this is your opportunity to join in fellowship with the floral community. Never again will you have the opportunity to observe one of the most sacred events of the year in a place you call your Carolina home. I call on you to identify your inner botanist, water it, nurture it and apply to become a member of one of Carolina’s oldest and most honorable societies: The Order of the Ginkgo.
Our principles are high; our motives holy. To bud, to grow, to spread shining bilobed fans of green among bending and twining boughs that sieve the fingers of the wind, to lace the soil with curious roots, ay! Even to you, oh ginkgo, shall we aspire!
Address all questions or comments to orderoftheginkgo@gmail.com.
Lily Clarke ’16
Celeste Cowan ’14
Order of the Ginkgo
