Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson for June 30, 2024

I see Dana still finds profoundness in the idea of things that are ugly, but also “look interesting”.

The last panel really speaks to me…and when I say “me,” I mean only me, no one but I, and exclusively myself.

Memories are like photographs of moments with emotional significance. I have a few of those.

What if Marigold met Whispy Woods from “Kirby”?

Sounds like that tree was a cut above the rest!

There was a tree, an ugly tree, and the green grass grew all around and around and the green grass grew all around!

“To h-ll with posterity, I’m planting this for me. When old Vicki came down, I couldn’t stand the empty sky… I needed something to fill it.”

Actually it is. But Marigold has to keep up appearances.

To stand out through ugliness can still be better than uniformity.

At least marigold sees beauty in all things and she knows that their appearance is what makes them special.

If Phoebe was special needs or had any significant bodily defects then I am glad that she wouldn’t see her any differently.

Marigold even once described Phoebe’s freckles as magic sparkles and compared her to a unicorn.

Marigold also wouldn’t be prejudiced against anyone’s bodily looks or inner beliefs because Dana puts in all kinds of people in her books.

All races and genders have been included in Phoebe’s world at least once and they are equal to all the others.

Marigold no doubt has seen everyone and traveled everywhere in her thousands of years old life.

As for the tree, there’s probably been several other trees that have been there during that time.

Excellent memory for her if she’s remembered it among other stuff for several thousands of years

Did they cut it it down and make it into a computer?

(whoever they are)

Speaking of “self involved“…

[sniff] No, not about you, at all, stubby little Phoebe! Whatever gave you that silly idea? [sniff!]

There was a tree like that on my way home from school – grotesque, misshapen, knotty – but for a month every year it was heavily laden with thousands of pink hawthorn flowers.

It is part of the great human struggle, figuring out how to interpret an ever-changing world in ways that make them feel like the center of everything.

That’s true, but Marigold would definitely compare Phoebe to an ugly knotty tree in different circumstances.

There was a cherry tree like that in DC that the Park Service recently cut down, despite many objections.

Narrator: It was, in fact, about Phoebe.