Sunday, December 28, 2014

December 28

Not one to linger too long with Christmas decorations, we moved the tree from the sunroom to the outside. This has become a small tradition each year – to place the entire thing, still in the stand, propped beside the tube feeder just off the porch. Until spring arrives, we then enjoy an evergreen addition to the side yard.

The birds certainly seem to appreciate this, for within minutes of setting the tree in place, several chick-a-dees alighted on the boughs nearest the feeder, using them as cover I suspect from the potential of the red-tails or the falcons. They’d hop flight quickly to the tube, reach within to extract the seed, and return quickly to the Christmas tree to open the casing. The juncos too seem to enjoy the new addition, as do the mourning doves, both milling about beneath like chickens in a barnyard searching randomly for cast-off fare.


Meanwhile, the sunroom floor was littered with dropped needles from our moving the tree, and we collected these with a dustpan, enough to fill a half-gallon bag. I took these to the fireplace room, spread them quickly on the crackling wood in the stove, and watched as they sizzled and smoked, making the room fragrant with a tinged piney odor.

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