Capitol Christmas Tree

We missed it when it arrived in town right after Thanksgiving. The Capitol Christmas tree came in the pouring rain on a very large truck all the way from Oregon. Shortly thereafter was President Bush’s lying in state and the city was thinking other thoughts. We just came back home from a short trip to Florida and tomorrow is Christmas Eve. So we thought it might be a good idea to actually see the tree - up close - this morning on our walk. The line at the US Botanic Garden was winding around the block to see the annual train display. Luckily we had already seen that a few weeks ago. For the first time in many days the sun was shining. When we approached the Capitol grounds everything was still quite muddy but it didn’t stop all the visitors that were coming and going. We have attended the Christmas tree lighting ceremony a couple of times since we moved here twelve years ago. We haven’t yet seen the tree at night with all the lights aglow. I used to start decorating the house for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving when we lived in the Midwest. Now we seem to enjoy the displays around town more, and escape to other destinations to see the decorated trees for the holiday season. Our neighborhood always empties out at this time of year. It’s just that kind of town.