January 04, 2013

A bit of green

A bit of green

On Christmas morning, I came downstairs to find Shaggy Hair Boy sitting on the floor with some charcoal, some soil, and a cool glass container that Jazz Piano Teacher had given him. He looked up, “Hey, Mom. Can you get me some moss?”

He was making a Christmas Present for Smiley Girl: a terrarium. He’d been talking about the present, and he’d even gone to the pet store to buy the charcoal, but for some reason he decided to wait until there was at least a foot of snow on the ground to ask me for some moss.

More than 20 family members were coming for dinner that day, and I had a long to-do list, but a walk in the woods by myself seemed utterly appealing. I handed him a ten-pound bag of potatoes. “Will you be charge of making the potatoes for Christmas dinner?” 

He glanced up from his project. “Sure.”

Outside, I breathed in the moist, cold air. Fluffy snow on every branch and stump muffled the usual noises of the woods. My boots barely made a sound as they sunk into the snow. I went to the base of an old tree in a low part of the woods, dug down to get to the moss, and selected just a bit with my mittens.

Within minutes I had enough moss, but I walked farther anyhow, just to admire the way the snow had transformed fallen trees into works of white-trimmed art. Then I returned to the warm house, where my husband and kids were busy cleaning and setting up for our annual holiday meal.

Making a terrarium

9 comments:

Anonymously Me said...

What type of camera do you use?

Magpie said...

you're awesome for trekking out in the snow and for knowing where the moss was.

beemama said...

And can I say how jealous I am that you can trek out the back and find moss? LOL I had to think really hard, and then figure out which way I'd drive to get some. Dinner would be done by the time I'd achieved it!

jo(e) said...

Anonymously Me: A Nikon D60.

Nels P. Highberg said...

When I saw the bottom photo before I read the entry, I was wondering what he was doing with all that pot, if he was dealing or if he was dividing it up for the family.

Anonymous said...

We used to make terrariums as kids, with my mom & grandma! The best part with the hike in the woods to "collect" stuff. Really enjoyed this post, especially the photo :-)

Anonymous said...

"best part WAS the hike"... gosh, a type-O on anyone's blog comment is bad enough. On yours? Twice the shame! ;-)

Amber said...

Your kids have the best gift ideas!

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

My boy loves doing things at the last minute--but that's gorgeous!!!!