Our Traditional Tree

Life, Phase 3, is an opportunity to simplify. Simplification will become a necessity when, one day, we move from our current home to something more manageable.

With simplification in mind, we took our bulky Christmas tree to the curb.

"Free. Take me."

I was attaching  the "take me" sign when a car came to a halt beside me, and the driver asked if the tree was real. "No," I admitted. She then asked if she could have it, anyway. Of course! She repeated "God is good" several times as we bundled it into the back of her SUV. We were giggling.

We still wanted to have a tree, but not one that takes up a corner of the basement eleven months of the year. Thanks to Google we found PossibiliTree, which just happens to be in Nordeast Minneapolis, three miles from our home. I made an appointment, then dropped in on them in the Northrup King Building, a subdivided warehouse space for creative people.

This is a local tree: it was designed by a Minneapolis architect; the cherry-wood was harvested from Minnesotan naturally fallen timber.

After a pleasant chat with the daughter of the tree's designer, I picked up a 3-footer that will move with us as we move through Phase 3.

As I look around the world, and back through time, I find many different tree traditions. From pre-Christian Europe, to modern-day Asia, decorated trees, tree branches, and wooden pyramids have special meanings at this time of year. The cherry-wood tree is now our tradition; hence, for us, it is a traditional tree.

Our traditional tree