I’ve been appreciating trees – our ‘ent’ brethren – a lot lately. Perhaps it’s because of my recent time on the north shore of Lake Superior, where I met quite a few of them, or their part in the seasonal tableau of pagan beauty, but I’m very aware of their presence right now. Their grace and solidity; their sober vitality – I’m comforted by them.

Maybe that’s why I am so jarred when I see the abandoned Christmas trees start to show up on the side of the road & in empty lots. I shouldn’t be surprised – it’s the time of the year & no doubt there’ll be more of them. But I can’t help but see them as carelessly discarded bodies, homeless corpses ignobly thrown on the heap. I’d rather they were given a proper burial in the recycling chippie and sent back to the soil with a little dignity… if only in gratitude for their having blessed our homes with the smell of the wild.