ATTENTION: High winds forecasted in WebPearls' woods tonight; we'll keep you posted on Little Fraser Fir's condition....UPDATE: High winds did nudge Little Fraser Fir to the right a bit, however, we straightened her and added more dirt around the trunk...whew, close one....

Rooting for Little Fraser Fir....

A Cup of Tang Tea....

Brave New West--A new book by author Jim Stiles....

Not So Big Life, Knitters, Fearless, and more....

WebPearls' Writer and Editor-- Karen Gossett....

Follow Woodland Path to These Links....

WebRings; Sign the Guestbook; Send an Email....

Listen to a snippet of The Fir Symphony by composer Arthur Meulemans . This piece opens slowly with four small fir trees on a hillside, the day stirring around them, and finally fades to an evening of woodland fairies dancing into dusk among the little firs.

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The Not So Big Life by Susan Susanka.

Weather Pixie is planning to pour a cup of Jim Stiles' grandmother's Tang tea as she reads Jim's new book, Brave New West.

A brand new year is here, and the weather in these parts has been great. Brilliant blue skies, brisk cold winds, and just a few brief, furious flurries of snow as if the old year were shaking last bits of stray stamps, old ticket stubs, and candy wrappers from an untidy purse.

After one of these fall outs, I trudged into our backyard at my mother's suggestion to continue an old family, New Year's tradition--the planting of the dead tree.

We had a live Christmas tree this year after giving our old artificial tree to the Salvation Army. We were striving for a simple, yet elegant celebration with a real, live, fragrant tree just like we used to have years ago.

It was a small, Fraser Fir , only about three feet; a real Charlie Brown tree, but with glittering bits of stuff and small pine cone garlands, it oozed charm as it stood on a round table near the fireplace.

A blazing Java Log , part of a six pack I hauled home from Kroger like a modern day lumberjack, illuminated the holiday scene.

And now here I was, standing in the gathering twilight of our small stand of woods, sawing the bottom off the trunk of our woodland beauty.

With a small trowel I dug a four inch hole and with a little magic rooting hormone sprinkled for good measure lowered our rootless, former Christmas tree into the ground.

Oh, I know what you're thinking--"This woman is a nut job". Well, hold on right there...

My grandfather did this very thing years ago, a small, inconsequential act on a cold winter's day, a gesture of hope and belief in rebirth and growth despite the odds.

It was a futile, fruitless act (his tree died, or rather really was dead, and he finally hauled it out to the trash), and one that my mother actually requested that I not repeat on these pages, but, hey I'm an optimist and a believer in family tradition.

Our little Fraser Fir is standing this very minute in our back yard on a hillside surrounded by bigger, more mature trees; it's still fragrant and green with valiant posture as it jostles faintly in the cold winds.

If this tree makes it, it will be a testament to hopeless causes, to rootless souls able to start again, to the possibilities of rebirth, growth, and thriving that exists for all of us in this new year of 2008. And I will keep you abreast of my, of our, little Fraser Fir's progress and success.

If it doesn't survive, I'll haul it to the curb at night, and casually not mention this again. Who needs depressing thoughts of failed analogies in the new year, right?

Happy New Year, WebPearls' Readers,
          Good Luck With All of Your Crazy
         New Schemes and Dreams for 2008 !!

A bracing cup of Tea awaits you on the Culture page with an easy recipe for Spicy, Tang Tea along with interesting tea facts and tid bits.

A great, new book to check out is BRAVE NEW WEST--MORPHING MOAB AT THE SPEED OF GREED by author JIM STILES.

I was suprised to discover this gem of a book since I was friends with the author while we were both on campus at the University of Louisville.

We tromped around the leaf strewn campus with his two dogs, Mukluck and Squawker, and shared Spicy, Tang tea, a recipe from his grandmother.

Anyway, it's nice to run into an old friend. Make a new friend of author, Jim Stiles and read BRAVE NEW WEST .

Another valuable new book, THE NOT SO BIG LIFE by SUSAN SUSANKA explores the compelling concept that "less is more" and might make us happier.

It's definitely something to think about as we strive to declutter our homes, offices, and lives in the new year....

And since there exists today a strong need to de-stress and relax as well as a desire for something real, tangible...handheld and heartfelt read about something else often associated with the Winter months--knitting.

It seems that young twentysomethings searching for "something else" reintroduced the knitting trend, but it has caught on with the speed of the North wind heading our way. We need something warm to wear...

Read Karen Gossett's book review of WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD KNITTERS by MARION EDMONDS and AHZA MOORE, and follow your own magical path to a knitting adventure. (You'll also find a stash of knitting tidbits and links to inspire your knitting passion.)

READ my Dreambook Guestbook! SIGN my Dreambook Guestbook!

Great appreciation goes to Anne Staszalek and Wiley Saichek of Book Reporter
for introducing WebPearls to:

"The Not So Big Life" by Sarah Susanka,

"When Bad Things Happen To Good Knitters--An Emergency Survival Guide" by
Marion Edmonds and Ahza Moore, and

"Back On Blossom Street" by Debbie  Macomber. (see Archives and Links)

Photo courtesy Westerly Library

Margaret Wise Brown , who wrote GoodNight Moon as well as many other beloved children's books, also wrote The Little Fir Tree which was first published in 1954.

It was the story of a housebound little boy whose father brought a little fir tree to his room every Christmas to decorate and sing songs around with his friends.

Each year after the holiday, the boy's father would replant the little fir at the edge of the forest until it was again brought inside; however, one year the little fir sadly felt abandoned since he could hear singing from the house, but no one came for him.

Finally, the little fir was overjoyed to see the little boy, able to walk again and surrounded by his friends and father, all happily rushing toward him to celebrate Christmas with the little fir at the edge of the forest....

"After Winter, Spring came in, flashing with birds and flowers and the little fir tree was returned to the woods."

Brave New West will make a great gift for the lover of the American West, environmentalist, hiker, or cowboy on your list !!

A New Book, Brave New West by Jim Stiles about the current state of the American West.

Pour a cup of tea, and read Jim Stiles' love letter of humor, remembrances, and a prescience of what's to become of our wide open spaces.

Watch Brave New West author, Jim Stiles, and experience important new west issues in a trailer for a High Plains Films documentary, Brave New West currently on You Tube.  

 

 

"When Bad Things Happen to Good Knitters" by Marion Edmonds and Ahza Moore

 

 

 

Aerial view of tiny Fraser Fir braving the elements with nothing but rainwater and hope for tomorrow.