So off we went, Kris Turner, a UK visitor living with us for a while, to the Roosevelt National Forest to get a Christmas tree. The Forest Service opens up a section each year for two weekends for folks to come and cut their own tree. The SUVs and four wheel drive vehicles make a long parade on the county roads to get "the perfect tree."
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| Joining the parade of cars in search of The Tree |
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We found a small tree (to walk around when we sing "Nu hav jul igjen"...a Danish tune stating that "Now we have Jule again" and a 14 foot one to fill the front of the living room with light and decorations.
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| The Small Tree |
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| And the Big Tree |
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So we bring it home on top of the old Ford Explorer, up it goes in the living room, and then out come 35 or more years worth of globes, baubbles, bangles, beads, garlands, figures, dolls, strings of lights, and one angel. They don't all go on, but most of them do.
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| In the Living Room |
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So what does it mean, this form of installation art? Once a year, transforming our ordinary living spaces into colorful dens, magical places? A custom inherited from Germanic tribes centuries ago....celebrating the solstice, infusing the dark winter with light, creating a festive scene to counter the cold... Perhaps it is just a way of saying that, whatever the change in season, we are here, we will create our own space, we will find our own joy and peace.
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| Merry Christmas, Happy New Year |
