Goodbye Tree

Posted on January 6, 2015January 10, 2015 by Crystal M. Trulove

A photojournal of the final days of one tree’s life:

My phone captured Mt. Hood peeking above the tree farm trees.

Tara is testing the tree height to see if it will be right for our living room.

Stringing lights and scattering needles everywhere. (I'm still finding them!) — Getting ready to string lights and scatter needles everywhere. (I’m still finding them!)

Glass ball received as a gift from Mom years ago.

Cloth origami crane from my trip to Japan.

Gift time! Tara's holding a T-shirt with the pattern of the Portland International Airport carpet. — Gift time! Tara’s holding a T-shirt with the pattern of the Portland International Airport carpet.

Gifts gone, and it looks a little empty beneath that tree. I love how the lights reflect off the floor. (Yes, yes, it’s a ginormous TV. I didn’t buy it, it’s actually a hand-me-down.)

Goodbye tree. You are still beautiful. Thank you for being in our home.

My neighbor across the street has a friend with goats, and the goats just love to eat Christmas trees. So… that’s where the tree will go next.

15 thoughts on “Goodbye Tree”

Bruce Thiesen says:

January 7, 2015 at 4:24 am

An all around success. Who knew goats ate trees? Convenient.

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1. Crystal M. Trulove says:
  
  January 7, 2015 at 9:11 am
  
  I know, right?! The neighbor came over two years ago, as I was dragging my tree to the curb, and she says, almost apologetically, “Would it be ok if I took your tree to my friends house? She has goats…”
  
  Reply
Susan Cunningham says:

January 7, 2015 at 8:45 am

Probably need to add a pic of the goats dining on it… and maybe even it later becoming fertilizer. You know, just to show the full circle of life. 😉 Happy New Year.

Typos by DROID.

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1. Crystal M. Trulove says:
  
  January 7, 2015 at 9:13 am
  
  Fertilizer! Excellent idea! Preferably on a cold day so I can get some steam shots. You’re such a clever one, Suz.
  
  Reply
kiwiskan says:

January 7, 2015 at 12:28 pm

kind of sad…

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1. Crystal M. Trulove says:
  
  January 7, 2015 at 8:13 pm
  
  You are right. I think that’s why I had to do a post about it.
  
  Reply
Anna Bonin says:

January 8, 2015 at 1:48 am

Christmas is so beautiful with everything decked out- thanks for sharing Cousin- I didn’t want to take mine down either!

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1. Crystal M. Trulove says:
  
  January 8, 2015 at 5:56 am
  
  I do love the tradition of the tree, from cutting it down to all the decorations that have special meanings to us. Glad you liked the story. 🙂
  
  Reply
Sarah says:

January 8, 2015 at 6:08 am

Lovely tree, lucky goats. 😀

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1. Crystal M. Trulove says:
  
  January 10, 2015 at 9:15 am
  
  Yes, I am so pleased to be able to do something special with the tree now that we can’t have it in the house anymore.
  
  Reply
Curt Mekemson says:

January 8, 2015 at 8:02 pm

Love it that the tree is going to the goats. I have a friend who blogs from England where the retired trees are taken to a local zoo, and apparently loved by the lions, not of eating but for snuggling up to. 🙂 –Curt

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1. Crystal M. Trulove says:
  
  January 10, 2015 at 9:19 am
  
  That’s a great story, Curt! I wouldn’t have thought the trees would be so appreciated by lions. However, now that you mention it, I can kind of see why. When Tara and I first dragged the tree into the yard, I pressed through all the branches, looking for any Victorian tinsel that might still be caught. They are the twisted tin (in the glass ball photo), and I have been using them since the 1990s. Anyway, each time I pressed a branch aside, a billow of warm house air came out of the tree – so noticeable in the cold outside air. The lions must benefit from the trees’ capacity to hold warmth.
  
  Reply
  1. Curt Mekemson says:
    
    January 10, 2015 at 4:34 pm
    
    And apparently, they also like that fresh Christmas tree smell. I know I do. 🙂 –Curt
LB says:

January 11, 2015 at 10:19 am

I love that the goat will carry on this tree in another form 🙂
It served you well and it will serve the goat well, too!
The comment from Curt and your reply is interesting as well … retained warmth. Lovely

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