On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 11:15:16 +0100, "Roger Ohlund"
wrote:


"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
gy.com...
Roger Ohlund wrote:
...
(Rephrased question: How are things where you live?)

Urbana, Illinois is at 40° North. On the solstice the sun will rise
at 7:11 a.m. and set at 4:30 p.m.

Today is partly sunny, 27°F as I type, and we have just enough snow
on the ground to change the morning run into the morning ski. Kipper
the hound much prefers skiing because he's on a skijoring belt which
is way more fun than his short running leash.

The little pond that just a few weeks ago provided some welcome casting
is now completely frozen over. The kiddies will be finished with their
finals tomorrow and will disappear for a month back to Chicago from
whence they came. It is SO nice around here when they're gone. Too bad
we can't have a University here without a whole bunch of bothersome
students. They're a bloody nuisance. ;-)

This weekend we will bring a dead pine tree into the house and hang a
lot of sentiment on it.

A pine tree?

/Roger
What happened to the old fashioned spruce?


I think its a familial culture thing. Some people grew up with pines, many
of them flocked with this stuff that looked like dried mold, some with fir
and some spruce. Our family usually tilted towards balsam fir. Mostly
because thats what grew in the woodlots around our farms. My grandfather
had the talent of cutting the scraggliest balsam that grew in the swamps
and then attempting to wire a branch or two into one of the bigger gaps. In
doing this he would work up a powerful thirst and then wander up to the
Wagon Wheel bar to alleviate it. Ah, the holiday memories...


g.c.