| There's something different, something special | | | | A tree freshly cut from the woods always |
| about Christmas in the country - a uniqueness | | | | seems to smell so much better, look more |
| which sets it apart from the same holiday in the | | | | Christmassy, and provides infinitely more |
| city. Something more serene and seemingly more | | | | satisfaction than one bought at an urban tree lot. |
| meaningful. A quieter, more reflective time. A | | | | Always did for me anyway. I always felt sorry |
| time to actually contemplate what Christmas is | | | | for city kids who never got to experience this |
| really about. | | | | pleasure. |
| Christmastime in the city is typified by hustle and | | | | Even a snow storm at Christmas is cause for |
| bustle, tension and stress, and is certainly infinitely | | | | celebration in the country whereas in the city it |
| more expensive. Not so for a country Christmas. | | | | causes distress. City people may find themselves |
| In a rural area, Christmas is much more a time of | | | | stranded in traffic or at airports. Tempers flare, |
| fun and anticipation. A time for simple excitement, | | | | rude behavior surfaces, and the Christmas spirit |
| more meaningful giving, a truer grasp of the real | | | | fades. Snow in the city at Christmas is not |
| spirit of the holiday. | | | | something to wonder at or enjoy for its serenity |
| Country folk do not get overly wrapped up in the | | | | inducing effect. |
| commercial aspects of Christmas as is the case | | | | In the countryside, as Robert Frost notes in his |
| with most urban dwellers. They take more | | | | poem "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening", |
| pleasure in simple gifts from the heart than store | | | | a snowstorm at Christmas is an event to |
| bought expressions of the holiday. Country folk | | | | appreciate and marvel at. It somehow enhances |
| tend to not place as much importance on the | | | | the spirit of the holiday. Robert Frost points this |
| price of a gift as they do on the underlying | | | | out. Even though he had "miles to go before I |
| meaning and thought put into it. | | | | sleep", he reins in the little horse pulling his sleigh |
| A batch of freshly baked cookies, homemade and | | | | while passing down a wooded country road at |
| delicious, packed into a nice Christmas tin, go a | | | | night to "watch his (a landowner's) woods fill up |
| long way in satisfying the spirit of giving. Baking | | | | with snow". He takes a moment to observe the |
| those favorite cookies takes much more thought | | | | snow and even listen to the distinct sounds of a |
| and effort than purchasing a gift from some | | | | snowy evening where he notes "The only other |
| overcrowded store - much more. | | | | sound's the sweep, Of easy wind and downy |
| Some country folk give the gift of doing a favor | | | | flake". |
| of love such as repairing an older person's roof or | | | | Country folk eagerly anticipate snow at |
| doing odd jobs for another, especially an elder | | | | Christmas; in fact, they are truly "dreaming of a |
| who may no longer be capable of doing such | | | | white Christmas". |
| things themselves. They do so much more than | | | | Yes, Christmas in the country is manifested by |
| their city cousins. Such expressions of | | | | the simple pleasures country folk get from simple |
| thoughtfulness go a long way to assuage any guilt | | | | things as opposed to a more consumer-minded, |
| of not buying a present and, I suspect, are much | | | | materialistically affected city dweller. One of my |
| more appreciated by the receiver. | | | | favorite gifts as a child was a pair of hand-knitted |
| In the country, one does not go to a tree lot to | | | | mittens I received each Christmas for many |
| buy a dried out and sometimes scraggly, | | | | years from an elderly lady, a friend of the family, |
| exorbitantly priced Christmas tree. Instead, in rural | | | | who must have spent countless hours of loving |
| areas one packs their recently sharpened ax, | | | | labor to make them special. They had my name |
| heads to the nearest wooded area, scouts out | | | | knitted into them. I was the only kid in school who |
| the best pine tree there, and harvests it. | | | | had mittens like that. I was as proud and |
| Tree cutting day is an exciting time for kids. I | | | | appreciative of those warm hand coverings as I |
| remember vividly my brothers and my | | | | would have been had they been bought in the |
| adventures into the woods to find the perfect | | | | finest store on 5th Avenue in the busiest, most |
| tree to take home. Most times we had scouted | | | | harried city at Christmas possibly in the world. |
| that tree for years prior to actually cutting it. We | | | | Those mittens were something real and unique - |
| watched it grow year by year until it had reached | | | | bright colored, expertly made, and toasty warm |
| just the right height for our living room. A few | | | | even on the coldest days. Those Christmas |
| weeks before Christmas, and once we deemed it | | | | mittens were an expression of how much the |
| the best we could find, we cut it down, tied it to | | | | lady loved me and I knew it even at a young age. |
| our Flexible Flyer sled, and slid it all the way home | | | | Does anyone knit mittens for Christmas |
| to the back porch. (There always seemed to be | | | | anymore? |
| snow at that time of year.) | | | | |