Tuesday, December 1, 2020

A Tree 2020ed

 Last week one night we took a trip down main street to see the tree.  


We both remarked that it was a very tall tree.  Taller than most years.  ( Yes there are parking spots on both sides of the street and in the center of the street)


On Sunday morning it was real windy. 


The tree came down.  Luckily no cars were coming up the street.  As far as I know this has never happened before.  I guess even trees can be 2020ed ...what a year it has been. 

Rumor has it that they will put it upright again.  We will see.

Does your town have a Christmas Tree?  Has it ever blown over?  Share the answers to those questions to be entered in the drawing for this years woodcarved ornament.  You can also send me an email if you prefer.  captainconnie2001atyahoodotcom

Far Side



58 comments:

Charlotte (MotherOwl) said...

Our town has the ugliest Christmas tree you can imagine. You can read about it in my Christmas Rant from a couple of years ago. When it was a real tree, in 2015, it was toppled by a storm. I secretly hope for the new ugly tree to be blown over and damaged beyond repair.
I won't participate in your drawing as I live in Denmark and the stamps would cost you a fortune ;)

linda m said...

The city I live in does have a Christmas Tree; and to my knowledge it has never blown over. Probably because the Square it sits in is protected by taller buildings. My city cancelled the annual Christmas parade this year due to Covid, so
i haven't been downtown to see the tree.

Jessica said...

My town doesn't have a Christmas tree, I wonder if it's something they did in the past though.

Val Ewing said...

Our town has a tree but it is in a corner lot and has guide wires to hold it in place. I drove by it yesterday. I used to see it all lit up at night when I was driving through town to go on shift as a security officer.

Karen said...

Yes, we have a Township Christmas tree at the library. Also many illuminated light figurines.Hope the tree stays up next time!

Martha said...

Wow, that is one big tree to come falling down! My town decorates but we don't have a tree that I know of.

The Feminine Energy said...

Oh what a pretty tree your town has... and what a shame it blew over! :-( I sure hope they upright it quickly as I'm sure your town's people need the cheer. The sight of a blown over tree would be just too much to bear, I would think. Yes, our town has a big light display down by the lakefront. People come from all around to drive through it. We usually take the grandgirls to see it each year but of course that won't be happening this year. More to be sad about! I have to keep busy these days or I'd never want to get out of bed in the morning. ~Andrea XOXO

Rita said...

Goodness no! I don't remember a town Christmas tree falling over. I hope they get it back up soon. :)

DJan said...

I laughed at your description of the tree having been 2020ed. Yes, this is a year like no other I ever hope to experience! Hope they get the tree back up.

Dianne said...

Our little town of Hillsboro, WI, has always had a tree. It used to be a real one in the downtown area...now it's a fake one (ICK) off the main drag. It's been a big disappointment to me to see a big faux tree as our town's decoration. And no 'Christmassy' streetlight decor, either, but rather big blue snowflakes. I should run for mayor, lol.

Wildflower Adventures said...

Our town puts up a tree. It's not up yet but will be soon, there is a date & other activities are going on too. I've not seen it blow down but the ornaments the kids make & hang on the tree blow off & are found all over town.

Susan Zarzycki said...

Oh, goodness, the first picture of the tree is so lovely and then to see it down! What a shame! We also have had heavy winds here on the coast. I must go out today to see if there are shingles missing on the garage. It has been patched so many times! 💖

KCD said...

The little town I grew up in always had a tree. My dad used to help put it up every year and decorate it. He worked for the local Telephone Company and they used their ladder truck to do it. They try to have it up every year by the 1st week in December, but I haven't been by this year to see if it is there by now. Both him and the ladder truck have been gone for years, so I don't know who puts it up now.

Kathy said...

Our town does not have a Christmas tree. We live on a lake in northern MN and our neighbor decorated their outside pine tree with lights this year. It looks real nice.

Thank you for the chance (once again) to win one of your wood carved ornaments.

Grace said...

our town's tree is real been there for many many years and so far has not ever blown over. my former town had a real tree they would put in the town triangle and one year the first grade teacher in town hit it with her car, town went the tree! and the kids at school decorated the door to her class room with a car knocking town a tree.

Joyce F said...

OOPS. Our town boasts it has the biggest town square in the US (2 blocks each way. The courthouse sits towards one side of the square with a courtyard of old trees (and some new planted to eventually replace the older. We don't have a big decorated tree like the one in your town but lights are wrapped around the trunks of some of the trees and "wire" trees w/lights make it all very colorful. In the bandstand on another corner there is the "Love Lights a Tree" and that is anchored so it won't blow over!

Phyllis Pritchard said...

My home home Christmas tree would be the same as yours. And no I don't ever remember it falling down before. It's pretty sad, but it is 2020.....

Sara said...

My town does have a tree, and it will be lit tonight during the Parade of Lights celebration. I'm hoping to attend that little parade this evening. Some years it was in the middle of an intersection of Main St. But the past couple of years it has been set up in a plaza next to the Corn Palace.

A Percussionist's Notebook said...

2020ed, that's going to be my new descriptive word for 'jinxed', 'hexed', or otherwise destined to fail. I love it.

Unknown said...

Yes, my town has a tree in the center of town, and I don't think it has ever blown down. The town decorates street light poles, and businesses also decorate their buildings.

Linda W. said...

Oh my goodness that is the epitome of 2020! In Portland we have a huge tree erected in Pioneer Courthouse Square, which is the downtown public square. I always used to see it every morning when I got off the light rail to walk in to my office. But....I've been working from home since March so I won't get to see the tree this year.

J.T. said...

I live in Fargo, ND and we have a tree downtown. Have for many years. Not while I was growing up here though. Usually there is a parade two days before Thanksgiving and then tree lighting after the parade is over. Parade is cancelled but tree lighting will take place. We also have ice skating downtown and lots of decorations up and down Broadway. I love driving through downtown at night. It is beautiful.

I have never heard of the tree falling down. I hope yours is uprighted soon - take that COVID!

Lynne-FtWorth said...

Fort Worth, TX does put up a tree in Sundance Square, downtown. I don't believe it has ever come down and our weather is pretty mild. I've only seen one white Christmas and that was just a sprinkle that melted soon after morning sun came out.

Pauline Persing said...

The community tree is in the yard of the Lutheran Church. In the bigger town to our north, the community tree is in plot of land surrounded by the traffic circle in the heart of the town.

Terry and Linda said...

OH! That was sad! What a bad wind that must have been! No tree here...scrooges run our town.

www.self-sufficientsam.blogspot.com said...

Wow! that was scary....like a giant tumbleweed! We have lights on the lampposts but no tree that I am aware of. They have a contest at one of the resorts fro different businesses to decorate a tree for prizes. They have lots of trees there, inside but I never go to see them. I never go out at night so I don't know what goes on downtown! LOL!

Tired Teacher 2 said...

Normally, Laramie has a tree - I don’t think it’s ever been toppled by the wind. This year, the city is “lighting the train” instead of a tree. It should be fun to see.

Victoria Zigler said...

The town I'm in right now has its own tree, and as far as I know it's never toppled over.

We're moving in a few days, and won't be in an actual town. The town nearest the village we'll be in has a tree - which, again, I don't think has ever toppled over... Bearing in mind, I lived near it as a child, so it's not a new place to me - but the village doesn't. They often put some lights and things up, but I don't remember there ever being a tree there before.

Betsy said...

Oh my! First of all, I love your main street. It reminds me of the one in the Nebraska town my Grandma lived in. The tree WAS gorgeous. And of course it had to be 2020ed. That's what this year has brought.
We have a real tree in Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane. It is a "REAL" tree, as in, it is still growing in the ground. One perk of having evergreens everywhere around. It is beautiful! The tree lighting was virtual this year of course, instead of the big to-do they usually have with Santa, elves, etc.
I sure hope they put yours back up. We need cheer this year more than ever.
Blessings,
Betsy

Bonnie said...

We live in a very small town but we do have a Christmas tree and a lighting ceremony each year. The wind has never blown it over and hopefully it won't because it is a live tree - still in the ground!

Your town's tree is beautiful and hopefully will be put back up and strongly secured so it won't blow over again! We put a wide, heavy base on our indoor tree each year since we have cats. ; )

Miss Merry said...

I will be sharing pictures of our town's tree. A neighboring city had theirs tip over,too. Never happened before. Must be a 2020 thing. This year my town planted a tree, courtesy of the hospital. I guess the hospital must have heard about tree tipping in some special covid advisory to hospitals. So our tree is a little shorter than usual, but we will watch it grow every year and hopefully it won't tip over!!!

Gemma's person said...

It might be fitting this year, to just let it lay! :)
Our town has a smallish fountain and they put several trees in it to look like a forest . I haven't been by it yet to see this year.

thecrazysheeplady said...

We have a tree, but it's in front of the courthouse in a sort of protected spot, so it would take a 2020 wind to get it I think.

Granny Marigold said...

Abbotsford normally has a very big Christmas tree and it's well anchored in all directions. I don't know if the tree is up yet. Other years there's been a street party when it get lit but this year...

Lisa said...

Our community has a tree but it's not huge like most places. And as far as I know it's never blown over.

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

No town tree here that I know of, your towns tree looked good till it took a fall

Red said...

We have two large living spruce trees at city hall. They aren't going to blow down but they are very nicely decorated. So I hope this puts me in the draw for the carving.

Linda Reeder said...

It makes me sad that the town tree blew over. I have never liked those movies where everything gets wrecked at Christmas.
While in this area there are lots of town trees, the official Seattle tree is at Westlake Center in the middle of the shopping district. Usually there is a big tree lighting celebration and a parade and all the works, but this year it all had to be done virtually. No crowds were allowed to gather. That's sad too, but under the circumstances, safe.

Maebeme said...

Oh my goodness! Hopefully the tree didn't cause any damage to the buildings either.

My hometown had a live tree at one end of Main Street that was lit up every year. I don't remember when it came down but it hasn't been there for close to 40 years I think. We did have angle parking too but no center of the street parking (it wasn't wide enough).

The city where I live lights up the trees in front of City Hall. Normally there would be an evening with hot chocolate and horse drawn wagon rides before the Mayor hit the switch but this year the lights went on with no fanfare. It's almost always one of the coldest days so I've never been, just seen news articles.

Take care and stay well!

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Our city used to do a beautiful display downtown, complete with real reindeer the kids could feed. I'm not sure if they still do or not!

diane in northern wis said...

That first picture looking down main street of the big beautiful tree is just amazing. It looks wonderful. I'm so sorry to see that the wind knocked that beautiful tree over. I sure hope they can put it back up successfully and that it will stay up. It just figures that would happen in 2020. Take care you guys!

Bettina Groh said...

yes Blue Springs has a Christmas tree.. no it hasn't fallen down. It is a live one with roots ! LOL

Wendy said...

Duluth usually has a Christmas tree. This year, Minnesota Power is working on the outside area the tree used to stand in. So unfortunately no tree this year. But...Bentleyville did open for drive through in your vehicle. So we can enjoy that beautiful display of lights in the northland. I don't remember our trees ever falling. Your tree is beautiful. Hope it is back up for you all to enjoy real soon. Only in 2020 could that happen. Take care!

Shirley said...

We don't have an official tree here but there are big spruce trees near the bakery that are lit up every year. Not sure who looks after it.

marlu said...

When I was a kid, our town (Hutchinson, KS) had a big tree in the middle of the intersection at First and Main. Our Main Street is very wide - four lanes plus parking on each side. As far as I know, it has never blown over although that corner is known for being windy and blowing up skirts.

Diana said...

Never any trees in our town. All they do nowadays is string blue lights along the tops of the buildings on Main Street. I know they say some stores decorate inside, some don't (I don't know for sure because I don't shop these stores - too expensive for our income and more than half of them are permanently out-of-business because of this year; I only shop at Walmart, Dillon's, and Aldi and those are on the opposite side of the city).

L. D. said...

It is great that the town does such a nice job with the tree. It is really a good-looking one.

DJan said...

I won't forget that phrase, being 2020ed. It's perfect. And please enter me in the drawing! I'm a greedy geezer. :-)

Sallysmom said...

Our town has a Christmas tree for the first time in many, many years. As far as I know it never blew over.

Dawn said...

No town tree here, we barely have a town. There are no stores open and no reason for anyone to do anything but drive through it to get somewhere else. That's sort of depressing now that I say it sort of outloud. We do have a town tree in Detroit, I see it on the TV, I'm sure it's beautiful in person too.

Leah said...

I better get an answer in here (I almost missed it) --- Yes yes my town has a tree, well it did this year until it tipped over :) LOL your blog had me at "one of kind".

Ardra said...

No town tree in my little town, however in past years we have had on on the campus where I work. No tree this year. As far as I know it has never blown over, but 2020 is not yet over!

Henny Penny said...

Thank you for the second chance to enter. I wanted to look back anyway and see what happened to the tree. It was so pretty. Too bad it got blown over. Betsy mentioned in a post that you asked about others having trees in their town. I meant to drive through town on the way home this evening and forgot all about it. I think there is one in front of the courthouse. We've sure had enough wind lately to blow one over.

Cynthia said...

Our town has a very small Christmas tree in the park. It’s on the waterfront and looks pretty with the boats moored behind it. I can’t believe yours fell over in the wind! Hope the lights are still intact and they can put it up again. It’s a beautiful one — until it fell down!

diane in northern wis said...

Please do enter me in your contest! I love your hand-carved items. Always so unique!

Karen said...

What a sad sight to see your town’s tree out for the count! My little town doesn’t have a single tree but the business association sponsors a Festival of Lights, in which organizations decorate trees. They are lit simultaneously in early December as the season kickoff. Fun to walk through and admire the ingenious decorations, often relating to the organization. One sunny day we took my 94 year old mom, mask, walker, and all - she loved it! Since her macular degeneration doesn’t let her see the night views of the trees, she got to enjoy them up close. Love reading your blog!

Joan said...

I don’t live in a town, I live in a small village in France— only 400 souls! We don’t have a Christmas tree but there are Christmas lights, and the local nobles have a giant wooden nativity set in their front garden (the modest chateau is across the street from the church). I don’t really expect to win an ornament since I live abroad, but I have been enjoying your blog for some years and I hope you can answer a question for me... why is your husband called Far Guy? Thanks and Happy Holidays! Joan

Far Side of Fifty said...

HI Joan, Well since I am Far Side he is Far Guy:)