Night Tree

A few years ago, we acquired the book Night Tree by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Ted Rand. It's about a family whose Christmas Eve tradition is to drive out to their favorite fir tree in the woods and decorate it with food for the forest animals. They have hot cocoa, sing some songs, then drive home. The boy spends some time thinking about it in bed and imagining all the various critters who might come together to feast around the tree on Christmas Day.

We have a fir tree in the backyard, so last year we tried this out on a night during the week before Christmas. We sat out on a blanket with a flashlight, read the book, and then proceeded to "decorate" the tree. We didn't use popcorn and fruit on strings because I didn't want to have to come out later and pull strings off the tree, but we managed to leave a lot of bird seed, apple and cabbage bits, millet and peanut butter balls, and suet pieces all over. Afterward, we drank hot cocoa and sang some songs. It was very nice, indeed. During the next few days we definitely saw an increase of birds and squirrels out in the backyard.

It's colder this December, and the ground is wet and snowy. So, we did it a bit differently; we went out during daylight to scatter the food, then came in and read the book, sang, and had cocoa. I have to say that it was just as enjoyable. And we will be watching the back windows to see who comes for the feast around our Night Tree.