- Joined
- Feb 19, 2001
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- Purraise
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During a time of year (holiday time) when my world is supposed to be calm and happy, my world is anything but that. With a husband recovering from a severe and unexpected illness, a short drive into town gives me what I need the most...a smile
Living in rural Oregon, we live several miles from the nearest town. In order to get to town, you have to drive through a section known as the Narrows. The Narrows is simply where the highway has been cut through a series of hills, where the road divides the hills from the river.
In the Narrows, it is not an unaccustomed event to see deer, or porcupine on the hills. One summer I was even blessed to see an albino porcupine scurrying for cover underneath some shrubbery. However, recently in the middle of winter, the sight that greeted me was both unexpected and heartwarming...
As I cleared the second slope of hills, I could see in the distance through the rain, a small pine tree halfway up on the ridge. Most of the pine trees on the hills were beaten down in the passing storm, but this tree looked like it was shimmering, or blooming. "What in the world?" I wondered, and checking first to see if there was any traffic behind me, I slowed down the car, rolled down the window and peered through the gloom.
Someone had taken the time, to painstakenly climb this muddy, rain-soaked hill and had carefully placed silver and red christmas ornaments on this solitary tree. The reflection of the ornaments from a distance when caught by headlights resembled flowers sprouting from each of the branches. Once you got close enough, you could see that the flowers on this tree were put there by human kindness.
No other trees are nearby, there are scrub brush and rocks and bushes, and each time I go to town, the sight of this tree brings me a smile.
This morning, Nature had added her own ornament, a red-tailed hawk was perched on the very top of the tree. A dignified Christmas star.
This act of giving took some work, for there are no discernible paths nearby to make the ascent easy. Also, it is on State-owned land, so I suspect this was a covert act done under the cover of darkness, with flashlights so that the cheer-giver wouldn't obtain a ticket or get hauled off to jail for this countrified grafiti . I need that smile in the morning, I hope the tree remains decorated for a very long time.
Living in rural Oregon, we live several miles from the nearest town. In order to get to town, you have to drive through a section known as the Narrows. The Narrows is simply where the highway has been cut through a series of hills, where the road divides the hills from the river.
In the Narrows, it is not an unaccustomed event to see deer, or porcupine on the hills. One summer I was even blessed to see an albino porcupine scurrying for cover underneath some shrubbery. However, recently in the middle of winter, the sight that greeted me was both unexpected and heartwarming...
As I cleared the second slope of hills, I could see in the distance through the rain, a small pine tree halfway up on the ridge. Most of the pine trees on the hills were beaten down in the passing storm, but this tree looked like it was shimmering, or blooming. "What in the world?" I wondered, and checking first to see if there was any traffic behind me, I slowed down the car, rolled down the window and peered through the gloom.
Someone had taken the time, to painstakenly climb this muddy, rain-soaked hill and had carefully placed silver and red christmas ornaments on this solitary tree. The reflection of the ornaments from a distance when caught by headlights resembled flowers sprouting from each of the branches. Once you got close enough, you could see that the flowers on this tree were put there by human kindness.
No other trees are nearby, there are scrub brush and rocks and bushes, and each time I go to town, the sight of this tree brings me a smile.
This morning, Nature had added her own ornament, a red-tailed hawk was perched on the very top of the tree. A dignified Christmas star.
This act of giving took some work, for there are no discernible paths nearby to make the ascent easy. Also, it is on State-owned land, so I suspect this was a covert act done under the cover of darkness, with flashlights so that the cheer-giver wouldn't obtain a ticket or get hauled off to jail for this countrified grafiti . I need that smile in the morning, I hope the tree remains decorated for a very long time.
