Sunday, November 30, 2008

Christmas Tree

We cut our Christmas tree this past week. A self-seeded white pine from the farm. It is a third generation white pine. John Coombes, who owned Roshara before us, planted a row of white pines as a windbreak during the 1930s. Today some of these pines are more than three feet across, forty feet tall and have scads of cones.

A six or seven acre cornfield was located east of this windbreak when my family bought the farm in the mid-1960s. After a year or two of no corn, we noticed little white pines growing everywhere. Today these self-seeded white pines (from the original windbreak pines) are one of the unique aspects of our farm. Many of them are now twenty and more feet tall. One of my favorite hikes, all seasons of the year, is among these pines. If there is a slightest breeze, the trees talk to me, a gentle soothing message as the wind rustles the soft needles.

Now there are third-generation pines growing everywhere, naturally growing with no help from us whatever. And one of these little white pines is our 2008 Christmas tree.


The Old Timer says: When it is too late to do something, it is usually too late.

Upcoming Events:

December 6, 10 AM, Washington County Historical Society, West Bend. Address, 320 South 5th Avenue, West Bend. Old Farm. Fireside Books, 2:00 PM-3:00 PM West Bend, WI. Featuring Old Farm. Presentation and book signing.

December 9, 6:30 PM, Watertown Public Library. Old Farm and other stories.

December 13, 9:30-11:30 AM, Sheboygan Falls, Library. Sheboygan County Historical
Research Center. Old Farm: A History.

December 14, 1:00-3:00 PM. Barnes and Noble West, Madison. Books signing. Old Farm.

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