With the holiday season in full swing, Christmas trees, sparkling lights, spangles, wreaths and other trappings of the season are nearly everywhere — in stores, restaurants, churches, homes and even a gun shop near me.
They are all pretty, and I like seeing them. But for me, the best symbols of Christmas are in the natural world around me, in the woods, fields and other wild places that I love to tromp around in at this time of year.
For instance, the male Northern cardinal — perhaps because of its gleaming redness — makes me think of Christmas every time I see it. It’s the bird I most associate with the season. Images of a bright red cardinal against a snowy background seem to adorn everything this time of year, from holiday greeting cards to tree ornaments, from gift-wrapping paper to calendars.
In the woods across the creek behind my house is another prime sign of the season, an American holly tree loaded with bright red berries. Nothing, it seems, speaks more of happy holidays than boughs of holly. On Georgia’s coast, another red-berried holly native, the yaupon holly, is just as beautiful at Christmas.
With most hardwoods devoid of their leaves, another Christmas symbol is easily visible now — mistletoe, a parasitic evergreen that grows in large clumps high among the tree branches. Mistletoe, of course, is famed for its stolen-kisses power during the holiday season.
But my favorite greenery this time of year is the Christmas fern, an evergreen that grows in large patches in the woods. Its bright green color stands out now on the forest floor against the brown leaf litter. Supposedly, its eye-catching greenness at Christmas is why it’s so-named. It also has one other Christmas-related trait: Each of its leaflets has a small lobe at its base, making the leaflet look like a Christmas stocking.
IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: Winter (the winter solstice) begins at 10:27 p.m. on Thursday — the shortest day of the year. After Thursday, the days gradually will grow longer. The moon will be first quarter on Tuesday. Venus rises out of the east a few hours before sunrise. Jupiter is high in the east at sunset and will appear near the moon Thursday night. Saturn is in the southwest just after dark and will appear near the moon on Sunday night. Mercury and Mars cannot be seen easily right now.
Charles Seabrook can be reached at charles.seabrook@yahoo.com.
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