Christmas Treesitter Grounded
SANTA MONICA — Santa Monica police and firefighters
used ladders and bolt cutters to bring down tree sitter Sabrina
LaPaluca from on high. The so-called "Christmas Treesitter"
has occupied the Santa Monica landmark since New Year's Eve.
LaPaluca looked tired yet blissful as she descended
in the firetruck's ladder. She has repeatedly said that she would
practice non-violence if forcibly taken down, and she did. A few
well-wishers, however, who had gathered to support LaPaluca to the
end pelted authorities with plastic Christmas bulbs, Angelfood cake
and nutcrackers.
"Who the hell wants to shop where there's
this freaky lady in a really bad sweater looking over their shoulders
and humming `Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer'?"
— Main Street merchant
A choir of children, gathered from
nearby churches, sang "Silent Night" and "Here's
Comes Santa Claus" as the famished activist, who had eaten
only fruitcake and drank only eggnog during her two-month stay,
was led through the crowd and into a police car. LaPaluca was
not arrested, but was released into the downtown Santa Monica
shopping mall, where it was theorized she could more easily transition
back to normal life.
She was joined by her 1 year-old
son, Methuselah. "Being without him," said a teary LaPaluca,
"really brought home for me how sad it is to be without Christmas
for much of the year."
WISHFUL THINKING: The "Christmas Treesitter"
says she's down about the tree, but still upbeat about Christmas.
Lawyers representing the Edgemar
cultural and shopping area, where the 30-foot-tall "tree"
stood, claimed that that the Christmas treesitter saga was turning
away shoppers. "I mean, Jesus, it's almost March!" said
one owner who requested anonymity, "who the hell wants to
shop where there's this freaky lady in a really bad sweater looking
over their shoulders and humming `Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer'"?
Crews worked late into the night
to disassemble the landmark and pack it away until next year.
As for the plans of the sponsoring organization, Californians
for a Greater Christmas, it was not yet known if they would stage
another sit-in. The "quasi-Christian, eco-military group"
has said that it will go ahead with its plan to put on a Christmas
pageant and tour it around elementary schools beginning in June.
Knowing that legal action was
inevitable, the group released a brief statement: "It's their
loss. They can take down the tree, but they can't take away the
Christmas spirit!Bah-humbug!"them out for weeks before I
descend."
|