O Christmas Tree & a Holiday Rom-Com
Happy St. Nicholas Day! For this holiday issue, discover a Christmas movie with heart, but first, a tree grows in the Foothills…
O Tannenbaum
You might as well know up front: I love Christmas. The lights and sparkle, the celebratory pause before winter’s long, cold slog, and the spiritual aspects of the best Christmas stories.
St. Nicholas Day, December 6th, jump-starts our holiday season. I set lights in the picture windows, arrange Christmas figurines around the living room, and start planning my holiday baking.
And while my husband John and I focus on simple holiday traditions, I do have one requirement, no ifs, ands or buts:
A Christmas tree. A real one.
For the first decade of our married life, every December, around mid-month, we bought a seven foot fir. To me, Christmas wasn’t Christmas unless I had an oversized, fully decorated real tree in my living room, exuding that lovely scent of fresh fir.
We would set it up the week before Christmas—and there it would stay until Epiphany, January 6—at least! Happily, John was totally on board about keeping our tree around too, until the needle-drop became extreme.
We moved from a “they-cut” to a “U-cut” Douglas fir, but it was still purchased. Once every few years we would really go all out, and spend the big bucks for a noble or grand fir.
Then as the years rolled on, I managed to let go of the huge tree, and dialed it down… To a six-foot fir.
But two years ago this month, my usual holiday plans—including my precious tree tradition— were turned upside down. We were needed for an out of town family emergency.
Without a spare second to bake a few cookies or buy some gifts—and of course Christmas cards were completely off the table—I was forced to make do.
Just before we had to leave home, I managed to create a Christmas tree…of sorts.
I found a stand of baby cedar trees on our property growing too close together to thrive. I cut down three of the saplings, lashed them together, and stuck their spindly little trunks in a sturdy vase filled with water.
It was new, to have to pare down the lights and tchotchkes to decorate my little semi-tree. Yet in a way, this experience turned out to be quite rewarding—to use only the ornaments with personal meaning, including the ones my daughters made when they were little, and our prettiest angel ornaments.
Simplifying my tree tradition had actually been positive.
Still, once this emergency had passed, Christmas Day had come and gone. By the time we arrived home after a fraught drive on the icy interstate, my three little trees were deader than Jacob Marley of A Christmas Carol.
Not that I could worry about not keeping this fire hazard in my living room until Epiphany. We had bigger problems. Our water system had completely frozen while we were away, and would remain so for five long days.
But I just knew I could redeem myself for next Christmas. Get a proper Christmas tree.
However for Christmas 2022, my plans for our usual tree once again hit a snag. Just before the holidays, the dear little out-of-town family we helped last year came down with severe flu—every single person!—and needed a full-time helper.
Thankfully, everyone finally recovered—the one bright spot of the season. The night I got home, a series of unfortunate events cascaded into our lives like mountain waterfall after a rainstorm.
We found mice in the house, we had a leak in the shop that had created an indoor skating rink, and the next day, and a cold front/blizzard, like none we’d ever seen before, hit the Foothills.
We would not be going anywhere, not even to get my one minimum holiday requirement: a Christmas tree.
The best I could do tree-wise was arrange a string of lights around our leggy indoor hibiscus, park a few ornaments on it, and as John would say, call it good!
Curiously enough, while I was wringing my hands over missing out on a Christmas tree, a funny thing happened around our garden. Volunteer firs!
If you’re at all familiar with the Foothills of the North Cascades in the Pacific Northwest, you know that firs and cedars grow like weeds.
So it should have come to zero surprise to me, that they’d turn up in our garden!
Now, some volunteers have sprouted in our woods, or just beyond the perimeter of our garden. Those babies are, of course, are perfectly sited, and if they’ve gotten enough light, they’ve shot up over the years to robust, 30-foot evergreens!
Other trees, however, mostly Douglas firs, have taken root where they are decidedly not welcome. Right next to the house, or in the middle of a veggie bed.
Or, just two feet away from a blueberry shrub, like this one!
It’s actually been an ideal site to grow a perfect small tree. Unlike a volunteer in the woods, that must to scrounge around for light, water, and nutrients, this bushy little specimen has been situated to receive all the goodies the blueberry patch gets: light, lots of water, and nutritious mulch.
Its roots will very soon—if they haven’t already—impact the neighboring berry shrubs’ roots. So, this little four-footer needs to come out. And there’s not a better time and purpose than to be this year’s Christmas tree. Finally, I can happily embrace our simpler tree tradition!
I’ll miss the cheerful sight of that little guy in my garden. Still, this tree will end its days bringing us pleasure, and after Epiphany, John will chip it up, and I’ll spread the wood chips around my blueberry shrubs next April.
Full circle, the way nature works.
What are some of your longtime holiday traditions? Or have you started any new ones?
My Heart Will Go On
The holiday traditions around our house may be pretty simple, but when it comes to Christmas movies, I want it all!
Films that are sweet but not saccharine, heartwarming but not cheesy, clever without being too full of themselves…and most importantly, include a little touch of the mystical.
Last night, ready to get primed for the holiday season, I watched “Last Christmas,” billed as a rom-com and starring Emilia Clarke from “Game of Thrones” and Henry Goldman from “Crazy Rich Asians.”
Set in what must be one of the loveliest parts of London, the film’s supporting cast includes Michelle Yeoh and Emma Thompson. Thompson is also one of the film’s creators—I’ve loved her work as an actor/writer ever since she both starred in and wrote the screenplay for the 1995 film Sense and Sensibility.
(You knew I would somehow sneak in Jane Austen, didn’t you?)
So as the story unfolded, I had high expectations…but I almost gave up on the movie. At least twice.
Our beautiful heroine, Kate, verged on being quite unlikeable: alienating her friends, blowing off her family, and generally making really poor decisions. The humor portion of this “romantic comedy” must have been over my head, because I really wasn’t finding much to make me smile.
Worse, I really couldn’t figure out what our appealing hero, Tom, with his perfectly white but endearingly crooked teeth, saw in her!
Then about halfway through, a lovely, truly meaningful story slowly began to emerge: tender, funny, with a touching message about inclusion that didn’t hit you over the head.
The heroine’s epiphany came with a twist I never saw coming—and a mystical touch that came about so naturally it was perfect.
Quick update December 8: This movie is also a must-see for George Michael fans! I should have mentioned that the film’s creators based the storyline on his song, “Last Christmas,” and the soundtrack is pretty much George all the way through.
Naturally, I had the worst George Michael earworms after watching, but they were worth it—and thank you to my daughter Carrie for inspiring this update!
I’ve just added “Last Christmas” to my list of favorite holiday movies—I hope you’ll give it a try!
I'm always keeping an eye out for holiday films that are both entertaining and meaningful…what are some of your favorites?
Books & Blog
For you wildlife watchers, you might like our head-scratching experience in “Honeycrisp Mystery” over on my Little Farm in the Foothills blog.
And for all you fans of supernatural wildlife, Barnes & Noble is featuring my middle-grade fantasy, Morgan Carey and The Mystery of the Christmas Fairies in a holiday ebook promotion!
Feisty 5th grader Morgan and her three mischievous cousins venture into an enchanted forest, where a magical Christmas tree leads them into adventure…and danger. This family-friendly novel, with an understated environmental theme, is perfect for kids, grandparents, and fairy lovers everywhere!
This holiday adventure is set in a Foothills forest very much like where I live! The ebook will also be $.99 at Amazon, Apple, the Kobo ebook store, and all other ebook retailers—and the special price goes all the way to Christmas Day!
As for the writing element of Little Farm Writer, I’m currently juggling three book projects. And since multitasking is not my strong suit, they’re coming much slower than I planned—especially with all the holiday activities going on. Still, I hope to have more book news to share next time!
To the new subscribers of Little Farm Writer this month, welcome—and thank you so much for joining us! And to every subscriber and reader, I’m grateful for each one of you.
Please feel free to get in touch—you can leave a comment, or if you prefer, reply directly to this email. Whichever way you choose, I’d love to hear from you.
As always, thank you for sharing your time with me. And if you liked this post, I hope you’ll hit the ❤️ button—it can help other folks discover Little Farm Writer…
Of the many festive traditions featuring light and spirit this month, if you’re celebrating one—or all—of them, may yours be merry ones!
~Susan, from the Foothills
Great shares about your "trees". I'm going to share with Megs to give inspiration for studio apartment options. I need to take you to task that you didn't mention the connection to THE George Michael from last Christmas. Not only was the script inspired by the song, it also celebrates George's work, including 13 songs on the soundtrack and an appearance by Andrew Ridgely of Wham.
PS, I’m sorry for the late reply to your lovely comment! Our satellite internet is down for the count and won’t be back in service until next week—part of the joys of country living!