December 20, 2007
There is one tree at Siete Ranch that is full of mistletoe. It is now totally bare of leaves, and so the mistletoe is in plain sight. For some reason I am obsessed by the desire to somehow get to that mistletoe and cut it down. Not in order to rid the tree of a parasite, but simply in order to follow the age-old tradition of hanging mistletoe in my home during the Christmas season. I want the real stuff, not the plastic imposter that everyone else uses these days.
There is one problem: the mistletoe is all very high. A ladder will not get me even close. Same problem with the front-end loader on my tractor: it does not go high enough, not to mention the safety factor. I have recalled those old stories about people shooting mistletoe out of trees with a 22 rifle, but I don’t think I’m that good of a shot.
The mistletoe just hangs there, tempting and teasing me. I think it knows that it is invulnerable to my ambitions.
I have also thought about this: what if I did find some way to get some of that mistletoe and hang it on a doorway in my home? What good would it do me? When I was young and single I might have had some illusions about walking under that doorway at just the right time with just the right person. There was a time when the old tradition seemed rather romantic, especially during the holidays. These days it just seems like an old tradition.
I’m really not sure why it is that I want some of that mistletoe. It may be like the old saying about why people climb mountains…because they are there. That mistletoe is there and somebody should cut it down and hang it on a doorway. What else is mistletoe good for? Maybe that’s why the tradition was invented in the first place: somebody was trying to think of some purpose for an otherwise useless parasitic plant.
That mistletoe may be totally out of my reach, but there is one tradition which is not: celebrating Christmas Eve with candlelight services at Christ Church. Frankly, I don’t know how we pull it off each year; it’s probably much harder than getting that mistletoe down. But I do know that it is a wondrous and wonderful experience, and I look forward to sharing it with you.
Bobby Ann and the entire family join me in wishing for you a very Merry and Joyous Christmas.
