House Tree Season

Hello friends!

Life is getting better every day here at the Engleville Tick Ranch, growing steadily colder, and snow falling regularly. The trees are bare so you can see the squirrels all the way at the top, but the thick carpet of crunchy leaves makes it impossible to sneak up on anything. My person keeps saying “How pretty!” and walking through the leaf piles, kicking them up and making a tremendous amount of noise.

The Wonder Woods smell great now. Crisp, cold air and all those leaves. It’s a really busy place now, too, as all the critters are getting ready for winter, eating their own weight in beech nuts and stashing them in caches. Or maybe they’re just getting ready for Christmas. My people gather a bunch of things at Christmas, then other people come and take them. Sharing the bounty, I suppose.

Of course they’ve done that crazy winter thing. Maybe it’s the solstice celebration. Or maybe, I’m starting to think, it has something to do with Christmas. So, every year they bring a tree into the house and stand it up in front of the window. But instead of admiring the beautiful tree, they try to hide it with colored lights and things hanging on the branches. Maybe it’s ceremonial, like a totem, ’cause this is where they gather the bounty to be shared.

Things are a little different this year. They put the tree in the living room. It was always in the parlor, but now they have those awful, noisy drums in there. I’d rather have a tree than drums. You can chew on a tree, and lay under it. And it’s quiet. They need to get really big before they make any noise, and then it’s just the tiniest squeaks and creaks when the wind blows them. Birds like trees, too. Do you ever see birds landing on the drums? I think not, and rest my case. Trees good, drums bad.

Here’s hoping your people let you have your own stocking like mine do, and they stuff it with your favorite treats for Christmas. (And I hope nobody in your house gets drums for Christmas).

Wag more, bark less.

Sasha