My Beautiful Childhood Caring for Meher Mount
Marlow Morrison
The following is an email sent to Meher Mount from Marlow Morrison on June 17, 2019, after receiving a gift of ashes from Baba’s Tree which burned in the December 4, 2017, Thomas Fire.
Marlow came to live at Meher Mount several years after the October 14, 1985, New Life Fire. Meher Mount is sharing Marlow’s story near the two-year anniversary of the Thomas Fire.
Hello Meher Mount,
I want to thank all involved in Meher Mount’s rehabilitation efforts, particularly in the care of the coastal oak known as Baba’s Tree.
The gift of the ashes that was given to me has had a profound effect on me with many layers and I want to share with you, as a reminder, that our efforts of love touch each other in ways we often can’t predict.
My father and mother, Earl and Madeline Butler became caretakers to Meher Mount and Agnes Baron in 1988, after the fire in 1985. I was 11 at the time, and my main responsibility from day one was weed abatement!
Later as a young adult, I would become Agnes’ caretaker along with Ken and Len Cedar, until her death. Her memorial was held under Baba’s Tree.
At that time (without internet) there was very little support or funding, rebuilding was slow at best, and we lived without running water for many years, waiting for the filtering system to be built.
“It brings such joy to my heart…”
It brings such joy to my heart to see the care and effort by everyone to rebuild and care for this special place.
My memories there are more than fond. Meher Mount was my home until I was 18 and my father’s home until shortly before his death in 1999. It was full of adventures, insight, interesting people and many, many, many moments of silence with the trees, whom I have always considered my friends.
I knew every square inch of Meher Mount intimately. Baba’s Tree was a part of that, though at the time, it wasn’t named and honestly, I didn’t know Baba had a special relationship with that tree or even sat under it!
All the coastal oaks in that meadow were special to me, and I have very specific beautiful memories with each of them just like you would friends. I have many friends (human) still in Ojai and Santa Barbara, but the truth is when I learned of the Thomas fire my very first thought was of the trees on Meher Mount. The possibility of their death saddened me greatly, and I knew that even with their incredible natural resilience to fire, the Thomas Fire was a great threat.
The gift of the Baba Tree’s ashes holds the spiritual energy of Baba and that alone is a beautiful gift, but for me they hold many years of wonderful memories alone with Baba’s Tree, with my father, Earl, my animal friends (Max, Agnes’s dog and the wild critters), the days “in the clouds,” and the expansive view that reminded me there was a whole world out there, to be a part of.
Many, many thanks to all of you and Cassandra Bramucci for following her heart and desire to preserve the ashes.
The gift is far beyond anything I have been given in some time, and I will cherish it always, drawing on its energy and power to remind me of my beautiful childhood spent caring for Meher Mount.
Silence is golden,
Marlow Morrison
Editor’s Note
Marlow’s father, Earl Butler, served on Meher Mount’s board of directors. After he passed away on December 26, 2000, his obituary written by Bing Heckman, was published in the Love Street Lamp Post, April 2001, page 37. Here’s an excerpt:
“Earl arrived at Meher Mount in the late 1980s, just after Agnes Baron, the longtime preserver of Meher Mount, returned to the property after a fire destroyed all of the buildings. He provided vital assistance to Agnes, enabling her to reside on the property. Earl continued to live at Meher Mount and help with its many needs until the fall of 2000 when his condition worsened. Earl was 58.”