Fresh as a Baby Pinecone Bud

When I was undecorating Kendrick the Christmas Tree this weekend I noticed all these little greenish yellow bits on his branches. At first I thought they might be mantis or mantis larvae or some such, maybe because I am always thinking of NieNie the amazing lady I do not know (she is home now, but please keep sending positivity her way), but they weren't. Upon closer inspection of their intricacies, I realized they were baby pinecones or baby pinecone bud thingies! I have undecorated fresh trees in my childhood and never noticed these amazing ittie bitties.

Awestruck, I insisted my husband come have a look. He humored me, but was decidedly less impressed. So, I grabbed my camera and, as grateful as I am to have a camera at all, snapped away wishing I had a more professional camera with a crazy lens that could capture all the little details up close, no blurring.

Blurry Baby Pinecone Buds




Then I held them in my hand...

and marveled at how after being
chopped down,
brought to a store,
set outside in the cold without water waiting to be bought,
wrapped in plastic netting,
tied to the roof of a car,
driven to my house,
shoved into a tree stand,
decorated,
and put on display for two weeks
(though I did talk to him & we watered him several times a day)
Kendrick the Christmas Tree was still fresh and fragrant, and producing new life.

Talk about resilience and miracles of nature.

I would like to be like Kendrick the Christmas Tree when I grow up.