Reader: Discarded Christmas decorations useful for shedding life’s worries
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010, 7 p.m. — For those of us who travel the Blue Grass Parkway west to Elizabethtown and beyond, there’s a sight you’ve undoubtedly seen on the side of the roadway eastbound near the 18 mile-marker: A lone cedar tree decorated with Christmas ornaments.
The tree was first decorated in 2008, and for two years it has been something of a mystery — until now. The individual who first placed the ornaments on the tree has come forward, anonymously, to tell the story of how the BG Christmas Tree came to be (click on the photos to enlarge them).
Mile Marker 18
Let me start by apologizing to the many people that drive the Blue Grass Parkway. Since 2008 I’ve been littering the roadside. Not with garbage – although an occasional banana peel or apple core does get tossed out into the morning dew – but instead with the many daily troubles from work.
I started a new job in the early part of 2008 and life was good. Each morning I would watch the sun come up across some of the most beautiful land in Kentucky. Most days I wouldn’t even have the radio on, I was so happy that I would just be singing that old John Denver song about “…the sun coming up and having cakes on the griddle”.
Then the economy turned and like many people I was wondering what would happen to my job, savings and more. The long drive turned from a celebration of life into a daunting time to do nothing but lament. Stock market down, gas prices up, Americans being killed in war, murders close to home and of course my micro managing bosses. The bad were all I could focus on and that long drive made it impossible to think about anything else. By the time I got home, I was grouchy to everyone I loved the most.
One weekend in the fall I woke to find my normal list of things to do around the house. While I don’t always agree with the long list from my wife this time it included an odd request to dump all the old Christmas ornaments in the attic left from the previous owner. I have to admit, when it comes to Holiday items I have a tough time tossing them out. Instead, I hid them in my car so I could complete the list without putting them in the garbage.
The Monday morning after cleaning out the attic, as I made the lonely drive, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. It was an evergreen tree standing tall all by itself on the side of the road. I smiled and knew that the simple tree on the side of the road would be the perfect place for those attic Christmas ornaments in my trunk. So each morning, I would stop and add an ornament or two to that perfect lonely tree. But it wasn’t just decorating a tree to me, each ornament was a trouble or problem I had at work. I named each trouble and gladly left it on the tree in the morning darkness. Mile marker 18 was a special place for me each day. Most problems I couldn’t remember as I drove by and many more problems had become beautiful sparkling ornaments on the way home in the sunset.
The tree has been standing now for two years. It holds the memory of troubles I’ve conquered and many too trivial to even remember. It is a reminder to me to think about the things I have, rather than the things I don’t. It also reminds me of the many incredible people in our community doing good things rather than pondering about the many bad things the news reminds us of each night.
Since putting up the decorations someone has added more ornaments and even a gift under the tree. Perhaps it is someone excited about the upcoming Holiday, perhaps it is just some leftover ornaments from an attic. Either way, it is another reminder of the purpose of the season and the new year. Feel free to leave your troubles next to mine on the parkway. Especially if they can make others smile.
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