I could not have imagined, before today, the ease with which one picks out a Christmas tree by oneself. No yackity-yack, no dithering, no opinions. Just look at a few trees, walk around for a few minutes, look at the trees again and then bam! Done.
No more tree lots on every other corner, no Boyscout troops raising funds. I succumbed to Lowes (Home! Improvement!) -- a couple of miles from my house, a minimum of carbon fuel burned in the process. Everything bondaged-up in a plastic mesh and crammed into my trunk.
The romance of it -- I used to love tree-shopping -- is just plum gone.
I forgot to have them lop off the trunk end so I have to lug up the Sawz-All and get all butch with my boy-tool.
There were two or three charmed years when we picked the kids up from school, stopped for some hot chocolate, and headed east to Hobart, in the Cascade foothills, to a tree farm. I recall the boys running slap-happy down a rut-pocked hillside, choosing first this tree, then that, every last one of them too tall and frightfully broad at the hips (the trees, not the boys). We found one, of course. Draped with lichen, mossy. An honest-to-god tree. Alive.
So fleeting, those years; and also at times interminable. It all ends: the shape-shifting of time.
Which brings me to here.
Blogging about it.
The tree, as yet un-Sawzed, lies in the front yard.
(And admittedly, solitary pseudotsuga menziesii shopping is dreary.)
Beautiful, wistful writing --
ReplyDeleteSo very poignant. My husband and daughter bought our tree today. Next year she, like her brother, will be in college. How the years evaporate. It is romantic though, that even without the romance, you brought home a tree.
ReplyDeleteThis year I've had my way! Ours is the top of a wild plum tree that I've recently felled. It's covered in baubles, lights, and sparkly things; and it's wonderful. Even Lady M agrees with my decision!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Elizabeth!
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to know you're out there, part of the universe, our orbits crossing momentarily.
Angela, your comment made me stop for just a moment: romantic.
ReplyDeleteThank-you.
xo
Cro, what a great idea!
ReplyDeleteWill there be a photo on your blog?
I threatened to lop off a branch from the giant Douglas fir in the yard, sling it up on the wall in lieu of an entire tree.
ReplyDeleteMy son vetoed the idea. (But did he come with me to get the tree??!! N-o-o-o-o....)
In a long-ago movie monologue, Herb Gardner wrote that time wasn't a thief but an embezzler, up all night, juggling the books. Shape-shifting describes it perfectly. The experience that was has taken on a new identity. And, it feels not dreary in the reading but altered and affirming. I hope you decorate it til the branches complain and enjoy it until the needles drop. xo
ReplyDeleteP.S. I find much that resonates in your quotes to the right of the posts. xo
ReplyDeletethe Christmas wist(ful) list...thanks, T. lovely post.
ReplyDeletetwo years ago, i started cadging the branches that the local outdoor seller--VFW? --cuts from the trees as others buy them, so they can cram them into the trunk or hoist them onto their car racks. i gather an armful or two of the lopped-off branches (free...the guys are happy to give them to me); take them home, put them in a huge red bucket of water. the smell is perfect, looks great with tiny lights...
i couldnt rationalize the whole tree anymore, and yet couldnt bear to go w/o. this works for us.
As our place is so small and we have steam heat, a tree artificial or real, isn't a real consideration.
ReplyDeleteSo I enjoy the heck out of my friends' trees! Merry Christmas and Happy Tree Decorating all you all! I love you and your trees too.
Love, C.
best line ever, "I have to lug up the Sawz-All and get all butch with my boy-tool." You don't know how much this made me laugh, picturing you getting all butch and all!
ReplyDeleteYou may have seen my tree this year -- a table top artificial thing. Minimum effort, hassle, cost. Perfect.
Once you get yours sawed off (you butch thing, you) and decorate, you will finally be delighted. Really.
Marylinn, it's always a pleasure to see you've stopped by, with your thoughtful comments.
ReplyDeletexo
Susan,
ReplyDeleteI love the buckets of branches idea. I really should make use of the massive Doug fir outside my door, which always generously donates at least one big swooping branch every year in a windstorm.
Thanks for being there --
xo
Foxessa,
ReplyDeleteI envision you getting a flat paper tree and you could play Pin the Tail on the Tree.
Wait a minute -- do trees have tails?!
Anyway, sending virtual glitter and baubles to you.
xo
Tara,
ReplyDeleteI just KNEW you'd get a chuckle out of that line! Ha!
A tabletop tree was a consideration, but I relented and went all real. At least this year.
(Preparing to break out the Sawz-All any moment here....)
xo