Christmas in August

Throughout all my years in Canada, I have had real Christmas trees. We either chopped them down ourselves, visit a tree farm or buy them from the Boy Scouts. They ranged from short full ones to tall skinny ones or rare ones. When I sold the last house, it was also the end of buying real Christmas trees as I took up sailing.  Never took a liking to the fake ones and now with apartment living, I skipped the tree altogether. That was until yesterday when I went shopping at Costco.

On display were Christmas trees but the one that whispered to me was a white, unobtrusive birch tree with small LED lights at its ends. Its slender twig-like branches fold up into a little bundle and comes in two pieces.  When plugged-in all the lights turn on, just waiting for a few simple decorations. 

I decided to buy it and with that, my thoughts slipped into the past.  Living in Deep Cove, I had a friend called Heather. Heather had a beautiful historic farmhouse and the banks of a river. New houses sprung up around her, but the farmhouse remained at the end of the road. 

The gardens are immaculate and the old porch had a wisteria vine which burst into colour during the summer and cascades in mauve layers down the front of the house. In one of my visits, I noticed it, the unusual pinkish toned colours among of the vine. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a few silk copies neatly tied in there and discussed under the leaves was the telltale signs of tape.

Now suspicious, I scoured through her flower bed and noticed some more unusual flowers blooming among the other natural bloom. Although not obvious, they were silk and she burst out in laughter that I caught her.

The house is an attraction at Halloween, dark and the end of the road and beautifully decorated, it also comes with lots of candy handouts. Shortly after Halloween and at the beginning of November the book club gets invited. As a member of the book club, I always look forward to this occasion because she opened the front door and said “Merry Christmas” as the house has now morphed and ready for Christmas in November.

The beautiful farmhouse had two fully decorated, floor the ceiling Christmas trees, the stairwell with garlands; the fireplace did up and the front porch turned into a welcoming scene. I was suspicious once more and she confessed under pressure that she had a window designer come in for Halloween and to decorated the house for Christmas. It was easier to do both together as she was hauling away the Halloween decor and replacing it the trend of that year. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Christmas trees were covered over till the next year as the old farmhouse had plenty of storage.

My new Christmas tree has made all the difference; it brightens up my little apartment and makes it “Christmas in August” and by that I beat Heather by at least ten weeks.  Cheers.