The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 4: In Pursuit of Perfect Pines
Inside: Is it possible to find the perfect pine worthy of being a Christmas tree? Some thoughts on conifers and people while in pursuit of perfect pines.
Every year it’s the same–the search for the perfect pine. And in my mind’s eye, only the best will do.
Something without a bare spot. No missing branches. A vibrant green color. No dead spots or brown needles. Our assignment is pretty clear. We’re not some first-timers.
We head for the white pines. Something in the six-foot range. We approach each pine expectantly, Mike standing beside to measure height. One’s too tall. Another’s too wide. Branches are missing in this one. Too many brown spots in that one.
We continue the search as the land slopes below the Christmas tree farm shop. It soon becomes abundantly clear, as it does every December, that the perfect pine is elusive. We need to make adjustments. Decide what we can live with and make the best of nature’s imperfections. We settle on a tree with a bare spot toward the top, minimal brown needles. Height is just about right as Mike stands beside it. The color is good. This pine, we decide, will become our Christmas tree this year. I smile at our selection. Mike begins to saw. . .
Trees are a lot like people. We’re looking for that perfect person, whether for a spouse or a best friend or the salesclerk at a department store. Often we come with huge expectations. You must meet my needs. You must act appropriately. You must never disappoint me. But like the pines at the Christmas tree farm, we’ve got branches missing, some bare or even dead spots. Just as there are no perfect trees, there are no perfect people.
There is only one such spotless individual. And He’s the reason we’re trudging up and down hills on this beautiful day, sun on our faces, searching for the perfect not-so-perfect pine.
Real or artificial–which side are you on in the tree discussion? Tell us about it in the comments.
Related posts:
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Return of the Hillbilly Christmas Wreath
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 2: Silent Night’s Story
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 3: Rosemary Walnuts
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 5: Symbols and Traditions
A Rural Girl’s Favorite Things Christmas Gift Guide
Slowing Down to Enjoy Christmas
Posts from a year ago:
The 12 Posts of Christmas (2017), Day 4: A Truly Southern Christmas
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 3: Rosemary Walnuts
Inside: Need a last-minute gift or something quick to bring to a gathering? Enter Rosemary Walnuts–quick, easy, tasty–and you just might be the hit of the party!
Let’s face it–things can get pretty hectic this time of year! Maybe you forgot about that party Thursday night, the one you said you’d bring something to. Or a co-worker texts and says she’s bringing you some of her homemade sugar cookies.
What’s a gal to do?
Enter: Rosemary Walnuts. Quick, ridiculously simple, and so tasty they just might qualify for your new guilty pleasure. And did I mention only five ingredients?
No time to waste! Let’s get right to it. . .
- 2 cups of walnuts
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 2 teaspoons of dried rosemary, crushed
- ½ teaspoon of sea salt
- ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Melt butter and mix in spices in a medium-size mixing bowl.
- Toss in walnuts and coat thoroughly.
- Spread walnuts out on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
- Eat them warm or let cool and store in containers.
- Enjoy!
Notes: Make sure you let them cool before packaging. A mason jar works great for storing or for adding a raffia bow and giving as a gift. If you’d like to make a paper cone as shown in the picture, you can find directions here.
What’s your favorite go-to dish to bring to parties? Tell us about it in the comments.
Related posts:
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Return of the Hillbilly Christmas Wreath
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 2: Silent Night’s Story
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 4: In Pursuit of Perfect Pines
Slowing Down to Enjoy Christmas:
Posts from a year ago:
The 12 Posts of Christmas (2017), Day 3: Our Prim Christmas Tree Forest
Winter Skies, Making and Baking, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 2: Silent Night’s Story
Inside: What do a poetry-writing priest and a broken organ have in common? Settle in with a warm cup of something and read Silent Night’s story.
Let me set the scene for you. A little church in the sleepy village of Oberndorf, Austria. A priest in desperate need of a song. A broken organ that wouldn’t be fixed in time for Christmas Eve mass. . .
Father Joseph Mohr needed a song for Christmas Eve mass at St. Nicholas Church, in the absence of a working organ, but what? He’d been inspired to write a poem two years earlier after gazing down upon a small village on a snowy winter’s night and imagining another serene setting in a different time and place. He approached the town’s organist, Franz Xaver Gruber, to compose a melody for his poem, something that could be accompanied by guitar.
By some accounts that song was composed only hours before the mass. Together Father Mohr and Franz Gruber sang “Stille Nacht” for the first time in 1818, at Christmas Eve mass, accompanied by Gruber’s guitar. But the story doesn’t end there.
Weeks later the organ builder Karl Mauracher came to repair the church’s organ, and upon finishing the job he was treated by Gruber to the simple but lovely melody of “Silent Night.” Mauracher loved the song and took copies of the words and music back to his own Alpine village where two famous families of singers–the Strassers and Rainers–heard the song and began to perform it themselves. From there the carol spread around the country and, eventually, to America when the Rainers sang “Stille Nacht” at New York City’s Trinity Church in 1839.
In 1863, “Stille Nacht” became “Silent Night” for the English-speaking world, thanks in part to John Young, an Episcopal priest at Trinity Church. Nearly a decade later, the English version made its debut in Charles Hutchins’ Sunday School Hymnal.
Today the words to “Silent Night” have been translated in more than 300 different languages.
What’s your favorite Christmas carol? Tell us about it in the comments.
Related posts:
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Return of the Hillbilly Christmas Wreath
The 12 Post of Christmas, Day 3: Rosemary Walnuts
The Story of the Hillbilly Christmas Wreath
A Rural Girl’s Favorite Things Christmas Gift Guide 2018
Slowing Down to Enjoy Christmas
Posts from a year ago:
The 12 Posts of Christmas (2017), Day 2: Spiced Nuts
Winter Skies, Making and Baking, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Return of the Hillbilly Christmas Wreath
Inside: It’s baaack! Our 12 Posts of Christmas 2018 series and the return of the Hillbilly Christmas Wreath. . . Come have a look!
Welcome to The 12 Posts of Christmas 2018! We thought it fitting to kick off the series with the infamous Hillbilly Christmas Wreath. As you might recall from last year, it started as a simple idea. Back in 2016 I spotted a picture on Pinterest of a large tractor tire painted green and sporting a red bow. “We’ve got to do this,” I told Mom.
And we did.
But there’s more to the story, and if you haven’t already heard it or would like to read it again, head to The Story of the Hillbilly Christmas Wreath.
This year was a little different. The busyness of the season having caught up with us, we were in a rush to get our favorite project up for our corner of the world to see. We bought the plaid poly mesh on a previous trip to the store, and Mom being the bow expert, she fashioned it into loops. Then on the first day of working on the wreath, we added the streamer part of the bow with center knot, and we were ready to go–or so we thought.
We had adventures in breaking the ice inside of the tire–yeah, we didn’t get around to making drain holes in the bottom–and bailing out water and ice chunks. We also didn’t have enough green spray paint for touch-ups and had to get more the next day. Having put a new coat of paint on the tire, we were up and running, stringing lights and racing the sun. At least we learned a few things about fastening the bow from last year. We tied the bottom loop on each side of the bow to the tire, along with wiring the center of the bow in place.
Ta da!
By the time we were finished, it was dark and after five. My feet were getting cold and my fingers numb, but standing back to observe our little (big) wreath, I thought it was a thing of beauty–hick beauty, that is.
Want to know how to make your own? Scroll down to the bottom of this post to find out.
So what do you think of the plaid bow? Tell us about it in the comments.
Related posts:
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 2: Silent Night’s Story
The Story of the Hillbilly Christmas Wreath
A Rural Girl’s Favorite Things Christmas Gift Guide 2018
Slowing Down to Enjoy Christmas
Winter Skies, Making and Baking, and Other News Fresh From the Farm
Posts a year ago on the blog:
The 12 Posts of Christmas (2017), Day 1: A Simple Song