Treed

Yesterday we went hunting the mighty fir. Mum, Bird, and I trundled on over to the local tree farm. It's less than a mile away, a nice little jaunt. It was a warm, foggy day, and the herd was loose in a fenced field:

Majestic, aren't they? The wild ones are especially lovely, I think.

The farmers had penned a few of the tamer firs up:

They were docile enough that we could walk among them without fear.

Bird was in awe:

"Whoa, this one's the giantest one ever!" We'll be working on his vocabulary next week. I warned him not to turn his back on it - likely the leader of this semi-domesticated pack, it only looked nonchalant, leaning against that post. Really, it was calculating trajectories and angles of descent. Wily critters, firs.

Bird found this one huddled off to the side. Separated from its mama, this little feller was happy to have someone speak a kind word and offer a little comfort. Bird informed me he was holding one of its many hundreds of hands, and this was the one we were taking home.

I wasn't too sure - it looked awfully straight and full, and I like to find scrawny, weird looking ones. Less fight in them. Still, he had his heart set on it, so I relented.

The farmers wrapped the fir in a net to keep it from struggling and flinging itself from the van, and we got it home without incident...unless you count it knocking things off the wall and table incidents.

I had to tranquilize it to get the net off. While we waited for it to calm down, the cats investigated our new denizen. The weren't sure they approved.

We had to do a little minor surgery on the fir so it would fit in its space - the living room windows. It didn't seem to mind, happy for the view, I think.

Mum helped me wrestle it into its stand, and I noticed it had scoliosis of the trunk - it's a Charlie Brown tree after all! Score!! After letting it settle in for a bit, I fed and watered it, then set about decking it out. I did the lights under Bird's supervision, and then he helped accessorize with our chaotic ornamentation - half nice glass globes (many hand-blown), half home made (and more than a little cheesy). Schizophrenic tree, should fit right in at Casa de Crazy.

It seems to have adapted nicely...