“The retreat brings people together, builds community in the forest, gets participants outside and off their screens, and uses nature sustainably to heal and inspire minds and souls,” stated Great Mountain Forest Executive Director Michael Zafros. Retreat registration closes on July 30.
Christmas as we know it—the trees and wreaths, bells and caroling, gifts and good food—is a 19th-century invention. The authors, literally, of the modern celebration were a Stockbridge spinster and a German immigrant: Catharine Sedgwick and Charles Follen.
Although pine trees have taken a back seat to spruces and firs as Christmas tree choices, for Lee Buttala, our Self-Taught Gardener, they are still the star performers of the winter season.
'I was sad that there was not enough money for a gift for you, so I sat and reasoned it out. I remembered that not all gifts have to be store-bought gifts.'
It takes me days to do. One day just to get the lights on, and then, I rest. The next day I start with the ornaments, which takes forever. Every ornament has it's own story.
