Going Full Circle

Foiled plans invite creativity. It’s a significant phenomenon and a welcome guest especially when I want something badly enough. You may know it as “necessity is the mother of invention.”

It certainly wasn’t a necessity for me to have two small 10” diameter real greenery Christmas wreaths, but I did want them badly. Last year I was ecstatic when I found downsized versions of the ubiquitous larger wreaths at Maegog’s farm stand in Salem,  a mere couple miles from our house in Bozrah.

The wreaths from Maegogs were perfect for the two upright posts at the entrance to our stone drive. Not too big, not too small, just so Goldylocks right. So seasonly stylish with the addition of a bow and proportionally correct for the diameter of the posts as well. As in love as I am with non-perfect, wabi-sabi things, symmetry and proportionality rules in other areas. I’ve come to realize we’re all contradictions at times. It’s a human thing.

This year I was once again looking forward to getting a couple more diminutive wreaths from Maegogs to add to our property’s Christmas curb appeal and simultaneously help support a local small business. I don’t know about you, but when I start decorating for Christmas I’m in pursuit, focused and give it my all. I start right after Thanksgiving.

Given that many places start selling authentic evergreen decorations in early November, I was disappointed and deflated when I drove by Maegogs the weekend of Thanksgiving and saw no signs of evergreen life anywhere. No trees, no wreaths, just a sad, empty place. I wondered if Mr. Grinch had been through. Almost incredulous that Maegogs didn’t have wreaths, I did my sleuth thing and searched for how to contact them finding a number to call from their outdated FaceBook page. The husband of the woman who makes the wreaths didn’t know for certain if she was making them this year, they definitely would not have trees, but he took my number and said they’d get back to me in a few days.

Patience isn’t always my strong suit. And, remember that once I set my mind to decorating, I’m all about that. Waiting sounded grueling with no guarantee I’d get a call back or when, and it was already after Thanksgiving after all. So what were my options? I could go to Michael’s, A.C.Moore or Jo-Ann’s and maybe find small artificial wreaths but that didn’t sit well in my craw. You might think that getting older I’d want easy and just buy artificial because they’d be a cinch to pull out each year, reuse and be done with it – no hunting involved. I do admit to having “done” artificial wreaths in the past, but I like to think I’m getting better not older and easy doesn’t always satisfy. This year I was all about embracing authentic and feeling decidedly Druid-like. Let me explain.

More years ago than I can believe, Steve and I and my brother and dear sister-in-law went to an afternoon Christmas Tea at Caprilands Herb Farm in Coventry, Connecticut a fascinating, quaint horticultural place that lifetimes ago had been a 50-acre dairy farm. The abandoned farm was bought in the early 1930’s but the rocky terrain made it unsuited for crops yet perfect for goats, thus the Latin root of capri for goats became the name for the farm. Goats proved to be unprofitable but Adelma Simmons, the woman who gave the farm its eventual acclaim discovered it was a place where herbs, like weeds, could thrive.

Adelma who ran her farm for 55 years and lived in the 18th Century farmhouse at Caprilands is credited with fostering the huge herb-growing movement in the U.S. Identified by her signature hat and cape ensemble, she was known as the leading herbal figure in American in the 20th Century, the First Lady of Herbs. Caprilands was a popular place for people to visit, buy herbs, tour the gardens, shop the gift store and learn about herbs via the numerous books she authored. Visitors could attend luncheons and teas to taste culinary delicacies made from the farm-grown herbs with Adelma presiding and schooling the captive audience on the numerous uses of and folklore for herbs, the lessons interwoven with other compelling stories as well. 

From that trip, I came away with a story Adelma told that stuck with me. The teas were held in the farmhouse. Being a 1700’s house, insulation was lacking. I remember there were festive decorations and either a cedar or some type of evergreen tree in each corner of the room where the tea and herbal goodies were being served. I also remember Adelma telling a story about how the Druids placed trees in the corners of their homes in winter to help block the bitter wind as it blew through cracks. I liked the idea that the Druids were resourceful and brought live evergreens into their homes. The story made sense to me. Necessity was once again the mother of invention and, perhaps, the start of an interior decorating trend that blossomed into a holiday tradition, though the ancient Druids existed before the advent of Christianity.

My research on line to confirm what I thought I remembered the enchanting Adelma as having said about the Druids and trees came up a bit short. I did discover that the Druids were known to climb oaks to gather scarce mistletoe but found no mention of evergreens propped in the corners of their winter homes. The Vikings, however, reportedly cut evergreens down and placed them in their abodes in winter as a symbol of hope and overcoming adversity since evergreens seemed to weather the wilds of winter well. Once cut down I’m not sure how much hope an evergreen severed from its roots would be but I, too, put great faith and solace in my own seemingly non-sensical rituals and would feel more vulnerable without them. Regardless of the validity of the story, I came to cherish the idea of the Druids bringing the outdoors inside since I’ve always loved nature and, perhaps because our ancestors used to live outside. It’s part of our roots. We and it are inseparable. We’re one.

Back to my dilemma of no 10” real evergreen wreaths at Maegogs and my desire to embrace authentic and feeling all Druid-like about my wreaths, hopefully you now understand that my feeling Druid-like was about wanting real, not artificial wreaths and celebrating nature. I was impatient and not hopeful that Maegogs would come through so I resolved to make my own.

I decided to resurrect a craft I had taught myself 25 years ago and one I wrote about in my April 2015 blog post titled, An All American Wreath. I’d make smaller 10” diameter wreaths with American Beech boughs then bedeck them with real evergreens from junipers, cedars and winterberry. Not able to rely on Maegog’s to satisfy my eager time table I’d at least have an all-natural American Beech bough based wreath that I’d just have to cut fresh greens for in coming years. Proportions would be right for the posts they’d be hung on, I’d have the self-satisfaction of creating and my need for natural would be satiated. My Druidess would smile.

The large beech wreaths I made a quarter century ago for Christmas were decorated with real-imitation evergreen boughs (I told you I’d “done” artificial), real pinecones, fake berry clusters and real feathers and eucalyptus and then hung all over the inside of the house. I was a Christmas decorating maniac! Except for husbands, a need for variety and desire for different decor can eventually overcome me. After many years the wreaths were relegated to permanent storage in the attic and then finally given away or a few stripped of decorations and hung outside. Only two of those I originally made with the fake evergreens are still in my possession.

Decided on my direction, I went to work harvesting smaller diameter beech boughs from our trees, defoliated the leaves that hadn’t yet dropped and wove away. Freshly cut boughs are more pliable and bend without breaking. The offshoot baby twigs on the main bough add a funkyness and wildness to the wreath, part of the imperfect look I love so much about them. Now I just needed to cut some evergreen foliage and winterberry to finish them off.

A few days after starting my wreath making I got a call from Maegogs. Wreaths would be made this year it turned out! Momentarily perplexed as to what I should do, I decided to go ahead and get the wreaths from them (I like supporting local) knowing my creative brain would come up with where else to put the two I was in the process of making. There would always be the possibility that next year they would not do wreaths since there’d obviously been a big hesitation this year. My bases were covered.

The 10″ wreaths from Maegogs this year …

I’d gone full circle from my desire to buy and then make the 10” real evergreen wreaths to actually buying them and making my own version, overcoming my own benign case of seasonal adversity. Never underestimate the magic of symbols like wreaths or the power of evergreens. The Druids and Vikings seem to have been onto something.

Wishing you all a Merry Magical Christmas and blessed life each and everyday!

Photo Credit:  All images were taken by me except for the four about Caprilands found on the web.

Posted by carol@mylifewithcreativity.com & filed under How To. This post has 2 comments.