Charlie Brown’s tree

  Although we have a magnificent 9 foot Christmas tree in the front hall, it’s our “Charlie Brown” pine tree with a single ornament that makes me smile every time I look at it.  Maybe it’s because it was free (I just pulled it up from the woods near the lake) or because it took less than 30 seconds to decorate (as opposed to hours for the lights and more hours for the ornaments on the big tree.)

But I think that it’s just because it’s so simple.  Sitting in a clay pot on the hearth, Snoopy close by, it’s the exact opposite of the tree in the hall, overladen with stuff with more stuff underneath, so many that my little grandson asked, “are all those presents real?”

I honestly did not know if my little pine tree would live just stuck in a pot and brought into the dramatically different conditions inside the house.  After all, it had spent its short life outside, happily growing in red clay, clinging to a hillside.  But so far, it looks unfazed.

Pines (there are 115 species) are truly amazing trees. Scotch pines are useful both as Christmas trees and for reforestation projects due to their quick growth.  Longleaf pines, native to south Georgia were used in the turpentine and pine oil industry and also for making railroad ties.

My favorite pine tree, though, is one of the oldest living organisms on earth.  It is a bristlecone pine living in the White Mountains of California.  It is 4600 years old.  I am in awe of this tree and sit in wonder at its tenacity.  It gives me hope in the power of nature and that in spite of the current degradation to the environment, somehow things will hold on.  I like thinking about this pine tree, with roots so strong that it has withstood insults far worse than what we’re experiencing now.  This image helps anchor me when I’m feeling unmoored.

And maybe that’s why I like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree.  It gives me hope.  Long after the glitter fades and the presents have been discarded, this little tree will continue to grow and thrive. It’s not the “stuff” that’s important, but the living, growing things on earth.  So though it’s not nearly as glamorous as the magnificent tree in the front hall, Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree will last a lot longer.  As Charlie Brown said, “I never thought it was such a bad little tree.  It’s not bad at all, really.  Maybe it just needs a little love.”