We bought a Christmas tree yesterday. In fact, we bought two living trees. We couldn’t resist. One is a twelve-foot Western Red Cedar with variegated leaves—magnificent. It’s not exactly a Christmas tree, meaning, how will we ever hang ornaments on it? But I think we will bring it in the house anyway. Imagine the aroma. The other is a Bosnian pine, equally difficult to decorate with its long needles. But it’s the idea that counts. The most memorable trees from Christmas past are the ones that were not perfect. One year my brother brought home a pine tree that was practically round. He usually cut one in the woods, but I think this one was from the sale lot. It must have been the last one. Nobody else wanted it. One year in Alaska we cut an enormous tree from our property. There were a lot of gaps and places to hang large, (and I mean really large) ornaments. By the time we took it down, almost all the needles had fallen.

decorating the tree

We look forward to planting our living trees in January. They will add interest to our landscape and remind us year round of Christmas 2014.