Christmas trees

Sunday was game night. Pat and Nancy came early to cut their Christmas tree. Mom and Dad cut their tree (a concolor fir) on Friday so it could be decorated before company came. They have transitioned to shorter trees to avoid having to get on step stools.

Mom and Dad's tree

This year, Dad made ornaments using fancy cookie cutters and a dough of flour, salt, and water. The cookie cutters had a plunger to expel the dough, which was the only way the intricate ridges could be reliably produced. It doesn’t seem to me that these shapes would be satisfactory as cookies because all the detail would be lost when the cookies rose in the oven. They were great for ornaments, however.

Snowflake made with a cookie cutter and home-made clay

The trees are not perfectly shaped due to the tops freezing in the polar vortex two years ago. The part under the snow was fine, and new growth has since been added to the top. The overall effect was trees with a skinny waist, as if wearing a corset. “It will be easy to hang the ornaments,” Terry said.

We picked two Frasier firs. Terry got out a bamboo pole on which he and marked off 8 feet. Here is Pat holding the pole so Terry could mark the trunk at 7 feet, which was as tall as either household wanted the tree.

Pat holds the measuring stick at 7' while Terry marks the tree with tape

I was surprised when Terry brought out a small chain saw to do the cutting as we had always used a hand saw in previous years.

Pat holds the tree while Terry cuts it with his chain saw

Pat catches the tree as it falls

Nancy and Pat with their tree

Our tree, which we decorated Monday evening

When the other guests arrived, I got a hostess gift of a Rhode Island Red sitting on the nest. So cute!

My new ornament

Mexican Train went faster than usual. We never had the full complement of 8. First, Terry was out (unsuccessfully) deer hunting. When he came back at dusk, Hilda, who has not slept well since getting her knee replaced in early November, had to take a little nap. After that, I excused myself to boil the spaghetti and heat up the sauce. The 8^th place became a community train—an extra spot that was always open to anyone. That seemed to speed things up. All 13 rounds were done before supper.

Terry and I talked so much about our adventure in Sharon that it seemed we should take a little road trip after dinner to see the town. Hilda asked if we couldn’t go on to Lake Geneva to see the lights at the Grand Geneva, where they have gone all out for light sculptures, for lack of a better term. The entryway is lined with the 12 days of Christmas, followed by animation created by lighting different figures in sequence—an elf being shot from a cannon and landing in water, Santa golfing, a deer leaping over a creek. By the main resort, a huge fiber optic tree displayed changing colors of lights.

In the intervening time, I have given my finals and turned in the grades. I am now preparing to leave for Belize tomorrow with Kate and 12 students. I had three tasks for the way home, which I hoped to accomplish in the following order: 1) get cash for the trip at the bank, 2) get wood shavings for the chicken coop at Tractor Supply, and 3) get my hair cut. Because I wanted small bills (in Belize, everyone takes US dollars, but gives change in Belize dollars, so it helps to be close), I had the retro experience of cashing a check. The teller took so long about it that I thought perhaps she was printing the money fresh. Alas, no time to shop before my haircut. I like to go straight home after my haircut. In addition to the discomfort of having hair down my neck, my stylist always blow dries my hair, and it ends up all poofy. I had to go to Tractor Supply looking like a Q-tip.

Today I pack. Tomorrow we leave at the crack of dawn. See you in a week!