By David Fortier
Come Sunday morning, the rain and wind will have gone and sometime this afternoon Mary and I will head out to get our Christmas tree. This is the second year that we will go with a concolor pine and not a blue spruce or other variety of fir, including Douglas, balsam or Fraser. Who knew I would be about to name drop the types of different Christmas trees?
For years our tree of choice was one of the more popular firs. A blue spruce with its spiky blue green needles had its moments, too. Their branches were sturdy enough for the lights and bulbs, but more importantly for the school Christmas projects that grew over the years and came to fill the branches of every Christmas tree. There were Christmas candles and angels made from toilet paper rolls, wire, wood, pinecones, plastic and found objects.
Over the years Towill’s Christmas Tree Farm in Plymouth was the go-to. We’d tromp up and down the rows, kids vying for who would be the one to identify the winner—via a vote with the majority deciding. And each year, the trees stimulate an allergic reaction in me, that I was happy to deal with, taking a hit for the team. Now that the kids are out, some raising their own families, I have heard about a live tree that is easier on me—the concolor, or white pine.
Last year was our first, and we will be looking for one Sunday afternoon, close by in Harwinton at Deeply Rooted Farm.
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Except for some turkey broth, the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone. I tossed the carcass in a pot with some water, an onion, a few carrots and some celery, and let that combination simmer overnight. We ate turkey soup almost nightly. Two containers of broth have been stored in the freezer for the colder months.
A tradition whenever there is ham is for Nana to make pea soup. Since we had both turkey and ham on Thanksgiving, there was that expectation, but Nana has slowed down. What to do? Niece Hannah, once again, stepped up and made a delicious pea soup, with those big chunks of ham. Lovely. There are a few helpings left.
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Just before Thanksgiving, both Mary and I had flat tires. She ended up with a whole set; I lucked out with a used tire—both provided by Tire Depot. I mention Tire Depot because that is where I was headed to pay the bill for Mary’s purchase when my right rear tire thump thump thumped down to the rim. I called AAA for help, but before I set the phone down two good Samaritans stopped, changed the tire, refused a monetary thank you, and headed off into the waning hours of the day with, “Happy Thanksgiving.”
Thank you, Phil and Glen. Tis the season.
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Listening/reading for this week is another podcast, the Gray Area and an episode entitled “The end of social media.” Click here. It is a timely and critical look at the effects of social media across society. In it, host Sean Illing talks with technology writer and philosopher Ian Bogost about the state of social media. A big part of the conversation has to do with scale and how “large” is unsustainable and dangerous.
It may be a stretch, but it is a conversation that is ongoing here at TBE—we exist because we need local, we need “here,” and not “everywhere,” to be at the center of our conversation. At the same time, we do not need to make billions of dollars to be self-sustaining and significant. Some of our readers understand. We hope more will join us.
By join us, I hope everyone visits our site a couple of times a week to see what we have to offer. At some point, we hope most of those people will become regular readers and members. By members, I mean people who value us, like what we are doing and support us with a small recurring monthly donation.
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Have a great week!
“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. He can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org.
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