If Portlanders had one collective wish, it would be difficult to resist cashing it in for a week of rain-free days. Who knows, maybe if we all close our eyes and imagine it hard enough, it will happen? Or, perhaps we should just pay a visit to the Wishing Tree.
At the corner of Northeast Morris Street + 7th Avenue, you’ll find a horse chestnut tree adorned with hundreds if not thousands of fluttering paper tags. Next to its trunk is a sign, encouraging passersby to add their own deepest desires and anonymous aspirations among the leaves. Markers and a plastic bag full of labels are on site, making it quite an easy endeavor.
This idea first took root in 2013, when the property’s owner Nicole Helprin decided to write a few of her own wishes and hang them there before a trip out of town. When she returned, she discovered that others had taken her lead, covering nearly every reachable inch of the branches.
It quickly became a community message board of sorts, with notes ranging from comical to heartwarming and everything in between. One read “I wish everyone gets the opportunity to heal,” another said, “I wish for a dogie” — countless more related to matters of the heart.
The seeds of hope sprouted elsewhere across town; a second, slightly more spindly Wishing Tree popped up in 2016 in a front yard along North Williams Avenue.
Despite the added load, the original tree is still as healthy (and decorated) as ever. Over time, some of the wishes have fallen off and blown away, but if you believe the local lore, that just means those wishes have been answered.