The catwalk is the centerpiece of the Morris Arboretum’s new Tree Adventure exhibit, which opens July 4. (Photo by Jainne Perez)

“People need trees,” Bob Gutowski was telling me as we surveyed the vast, verdant canopy above the  Wissahickon Vista.

“Why do they need trees?” I asked, inviting the treetop philosopher to think aloud.

“Do you breathe?” he asked.

I took a quick breath, then I smirked at Gutowski and answered, “Yeah … yeah.”

“Well, guess what?” he said, chuckling between thoughts, “you breathe what the trees produce.”

In his 24 years at Morris Arboretum, a public garden operated by the University of Pennsylvania, Gutowski has noticed again and again how much people take trees for granted. With the Arboretum’s Tree Adventure exhibit, opening July 4, Gutowski hopes to stir up childhood nostalgia for parents and a sense of wonder for their children.

“Most people smile, remember fondly climbing trees,” he said. “And they enjoy an apple pie, and they enjoy clean water from the tap [but] don’t think about the role of trees in each of these things.

Forget baseball season, house-hunting season is starting in Chestnut Hill. The HGTV series House Hunters is opening casting calls to all potential homebuyers in the area.

“We’re looking for homebuyers and agents who would like to be on the show in the [Chestnut Hill] area,” Christy Kruzick, an associate producer on the show, said. “There’s only one stipulation: Homebuyers must be looking to buy or are closing in the next one to three months.” This stipulation includes anyone who is bidding on a home or is newly under contract.

Katie Eagleson

Attendees at the upcoming Pastorius Park Concert on Wednesday evening, July 1, can expect a “soulful” interpretation of the Great American Songbook by Flourtown resident Katie Eagleson.

Eagleson has been performing in the Philadelphia area for more than 25 years, and her repertoire includes the music of the Gershwins, Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim.

Her performance at Pastorius Park will feature songs from the Great American Songbook by composers such as Jerome Kern and Richard Rogers, all “done with a jazz style,” Eagleson said.

“A song is likely to become a favorite of mine if the words express something I can sing with emotional honesty,” Eagleson said. “When those words are combined with well-crafted music, I think the impact of each is intensified, and that to me is magic.”