I grew up on a farm, and Dad had planted 3 rows of spruce trees parallel to the road near our yard as a shelterbelt. The idea was that when the trees grew bigger than the 12 inches they started out as, they would stop the snow from drifting onto the road.
Well, it took a few years, but the trees became tall enough that we could lop the top off of one of them and bring it inside. Over the next few years the tree would grow a new top. For many years, we only had to walk a few steps down to the road, and harvest our yearly Christmas tree. The biggest challenge was bringing a frozen tree that was almost as wide as it was high through the door. Not as exciting as the stories of heading out into the forest with an axe, but it worked well for us. Those trees are now as tall as the power lines, so they are definitely doing the 'shelterbelt' thing well.
The decorations were an uncoordinated blend of stuff Mom had from her days as a child to whatever had been added over the years. The fragile glass balls, the unbreakable plastic ones, the bubble lights, and the angel at the top.
This was long before designer trees, fake trees or mini lights—but you can't beat the warmth of a 'real' tree with decorations that each tell a story of Christmases past.
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And I have never met another tree that clung to its' needles with such fierce determination. Do you remember how sharp they were??
I always sort of envied other homes their pretty mini lights when they came out, and we still used the old fashioned ones. But that was Christmas at home. Along with the Pepperkakor.
~Sis Dearest
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