Posts Tagged ‘balsam fir’
A tree for the corner!
It’s inside! Our Christmas tree for 2015.
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our tree for 2015, a balsam fir
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We are lucky here in New Brunswick – we can buy locally-grown Christmas trees. We buy our tree at a lot where they cultivate their own trees, so usually the tree has been cut only a few days before, and will last well past Christmas. I usually take our tree down on January 6th.
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When my son was young, we often cut our tree at a Christmas tree farm with my brother’s family. I can still see the paths the kids made as they ran in the rows, trying to find the perfect tree.
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I am happy to know that many trees sold in communities across America come from New Brunswick. We have seen the loads of trees on the highways for weeks.
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OK, I am officially in the Christmas spirit! Now the lights for the tree. And then our box of ornaments. Results to follow!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2015
bringing the outside inside
Mindful of how busy I am at this time of year, my Mom always said to take Christmas where I found it. She meant to enjoy every moment of the season and glean Christmas from the smallest experience. So, on my drive home from Halifax, I was on the lookout for what I call “Christmassy things”.
One of these was a big truck, well-packed with Christmas trees, bound for markets in the United States. I thought of how these simple natural fir trees from New Brunswick would be the center of Christmas decorations far away.
We are lucky in New Brunswick to be able to buy a freshly-cut tree. In years past, we often went with my brother’s family to cut our own Balsam Fir at a U-Cut. It was fun, watching the kids running through the snow, so excited to choose a tree. Some years, we had a tree from my Dad’s property, one of the many he and my Mom planted and tended. I have also cut a Christmas tree from our own woods, although sometimes they are a bit lopsided. Today, we usually buy our tree from a local grower, in a lot where the trees lean against the fence, categorized by height.
It is so hard to decide on the perfect tree. We have high ceilings, so the taller the better. And I want a tree without a bird’s nest (some people think it is lucky to have a bird’s nest in the tree), so I check between every branch! I also usually want a relatively thin tree, to let the decorations hang easily.
Today or tomorrow, my husband and I will go out to get this year’s tree. We will wrap the tree in a red bedspread, set aside for this purpose, and tie the tree securely to the top of our car. We will take it home to settle for a day or so, and then bring it inside. And the fresh smell of cold air and balsam will expand from the tree into our living room. And, as in other years, it will be the best tree ever.
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evergreen
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*
under
snow prismatic
white distils to green
wintergreen and woodfern
clubmoss and conifer, chlorophyll
wedged into slim space between
earth
and
ice
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© Jane Tims 2011
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