Oh Christmas Tree

I love Christmas.  I would however be the first to admit that some things I used to do, I do no longer.  I used to bake for Christmas and now I do not.  We used to get a huge tree, but this year I was definitely thinking small.  I went on a little shopping trip.  I like to spend some time looking around in local stores.   The decorations, store displays and music help me build my Christmas spirit.  Snow works too, but not this year!  I looked at small potted trees.   I gave up rescuing sick and dying plants  years ago.  Now I want my plants to be healthy when I get them.  These tiny trees were misshapen and pathetic.  When I remembered that I had a nice red pot at home, I decided to come home  take a walk in the unbelievably warm weather and search for a cute little tree.  Ed joined me in the search and we found this one growing under our electric wires.  It was easy to dig up the little tree since it was growing in a place where it would have to be cut down sometime anyway.  If it survives in it's pot we will plant it in a better location.

Ed potted the tree using some of his beautiful garden soil.  He just brushed aside the leaf mulch and filled the pot.  Under the leaves the ground was not frozen.

He mulched the pot with pine needles and we left it on the wall overnight, watering it well.  Now I have  my beautiful little tree sitting proudly in the living room.  It feels more like Christmas in the house already.  I had forgotten how much more fun it is to search for  a tree than it is to just buy one!

Her Favorite Rock

When we were first exploring our newly purchased retirement land, Becky was thrilled when we came upon this rock.  The last glacier had broken off a piece of the bedrock ridge and pushed it here.  Its level placement and size made for a perfect bench.  The man that built the nearby house wanted this rock to anchor the stone wall in front of his home.  Fearing that he would break it with his tractor and chains, I denied his request.  Knowing that Becky would really miss this rock also factored in my decision to retain possession of this rock.

Natural forces are at work dissolving this rock into soil.  Various lichens and moss are drawing their nourishment from the surface of the rock.  The pace of this activity is incredibly slow.  Great beauty can be seen here if one takes the time to stop and look.  A Disney-like face appears near the upper right edge of the picture.  The splat of white and light green growth is edged in pinkish purple.  Both of those growths appear in several other different places on the surface of the rock.

A recent locally severe weather event toppled a neighbor's hickory tree across the lane.  That falling tree snapped off a section of another hickory on our side.  Ownership of the fallen wood never came into question.  Our neighbor heats with wood and we all felt that he should put the fallen trees to good use.  When the first tree fell it snapped off the top of one section of the tree near the rock.  The remaining section of trunk was branch-less, long and looked threatening.  Our neighbor placed a ladder against the tree and skillfully dropped the snag into the lane.  More fuel for him and a hazard safely removed for everyone.

A generous supply of campfire wood remains.  This feels like a perfect afternoon to do some light work in the woods.  A campfire built with hickory wood should produce some sweet smelling smoke.  The area around the special rock will also be cleaned up.  It came through all of this unmarked and soon no trace of the damaged trees will detract from the beauty of its natural placement.