Nature Done Wright

By Jim Wright
Special to The Record

Every year I vow to write a column about my Christmas tree, then somehow manage to forget by the time that December rolls around.

Perhaps the forgetfulness is subliminal.  Maybe I am a tad embarrassed about the Wright-Finn family Yule tree.

 I do know that some people groan, hoot a little or laugh incredulously when they spy the evergreen in the corner of the living room.

 The reason is simple. The tree is decorated almost completely with birds — raptors, bluebirds, cardinals, herons, you name it — plus the obligatory small white lights.

Folks may scoff, but I think the avian ornaments make a lot more sense than most decorations I see in stores.

After all, what does a Yankees or Jets insignia —  or Mickey Mouse or a Dunkin Donuts logo — have to do with the winter holidays?  

A relative once gave me an ornament that was a miniature pool cue and eightball. Now that says Christmas!

Seriously, does any ornament except for birds on a tree really make sense — or by extension, squirrels and chipmunks and an occasional raccoon?

Like many folks, I  have a special affection for various ornaments — one that my wife and I received as a gift for our late-December wedding, several that we bought on memorable trips to Massachusetts, Cape May and the Eastern Shore.  

Some just remind me of my favorite birds. Not surprisingly, a half-dozen of the ornaments are owls. But we have a few exotics in there as well, including a toucan and a peacock at the top of the tree.

Each December, we add a new bird ornament or two, and add to our memories as well. Like many of the birds we see in the wild, a couple of our ornaments have gotten a little bedraggled over the years — but ours are incapable of molting.

One of these years we are going to do a Christmas Tree Bird Count — the trouble being that several of the birds seem to be figments of the ornament designer's imagination (or some species I've never seen).

The other nice part: Many of our Christmas trees have been live trees that could be planted outside at winter’s end.

 A few of the trees died, but a couple of them have flourished in our backyard, near  enough for the birds to use as shelter but far enough that the squirrels can’t use them to crash the feeder buffet.

One little yew tree (it had to be yew) has not grown at all in the seven or eight years since we planted it, but the dickie birds seem to like it — especially when there’s a sharp-shinned hawk in the neighborhood.

Our other favorite is a plain old white pine that has grown to more than 11 feet tall. Now, it’s a prime hangout for sparrows and titmice and chickadees.  A decade ago, it was our Christmas tree, adorned with different sort of birds.

What’s so strange about that?