Trains and trills trump nation's tree

The National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse south of the White House/Patricia Leslie

The best decorations at the National Christmas Tree setting on the Ellipse south of the White House are the trains.  They go round and round little villages which are all lit up at night, and they light up faces, too, of all ages.  Like candles glowing in the night.

The trains at the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse south of the White House/Patricia Leslie

For a few moments visitors are hypnotized by the glory of the moment sweetened by nightly (and daytime, too, on weekends) live seasonal music coming from nearby performers on stage. 

What is the reason the singers' backs face visitors to the National Christmas Tree? Is the target audience the traffic on Constitution and the people at the Washington Monument?  Can they hear what I hear?/Patricia Leslie

 

For years I've been struck by the permanence and artificial appearance of the national tree and how much it reminds me of senior ladies who used to wear hair nets.  Who remembers those?  Egad.  The national tree looks like it is permanently fried, perfectly coiffed, with that sprayed-on look which used to be popular in the 1950s.  Tightly woven together in perfect symmetry. 

Is it an artificial tree?  The website says it is real and was transplanted to the grounds about a year ago.

Please, abandon all hedge trimmers and chainsaws, ye who enter these hallowed spaces.

Perhaps it's only because I see it at night.  But from Constitution Avenue during the day the tree looks like it was decorated by robots on ladders.  The white balls hang in boring rows, suspended huge ping pong balls. 

Please, may we have some semblance of humanity at our nation's tree?   Something which loosens it up so that it does not look like it was decorated by a machine (or a "plan" of a map of the tree used year in and year out) but by nature.  And people.  Without artificial components.

It's too "matchy matchy," what you would expect to find in North Korea. (The website says General Electric designed and provided the lights for the tree.  Yep, looks like some engineers had a hand in it, all right.)

Sadly (there's more), the 56 trees all of the same exact height and width which surround the tree (representing the states, territories, and the lowly District of Columbia) are practically identical.  The signs say the ornaments on each tree are individually crafted by state representatives. (Not legislators.  Can't you just imagine that?  A decorating party for state legislators?  Yuk! Yuk!  But, come to think of it, maybe they'd all get along better.  "Who's got the glue?" "Please pass the scissors.")  The lack of individuality suggests they came right out of a manufacturing plant in China.  Or, perhaps the artists were following strict guidelines issued by...engineers?

For the Tennessee tree, Pam Weston from Tennessee Young Artists in partnership with Middle Tennessee State University made these ornaments for the states and territories' "Pathway to Peace" at the National Christmas Tree /Patricia Leslie

On second thought, it must be the bubbles which encapsulate and protect the ornaments from the elements which lend them this image, but the plastic cases detract from the contents and obscure the designs.

 

The sign indicates Jenna Lee of the John P. Sousa Middle School made ornaments for the District of Columbia tree, pictured here/Patricia Leslie

 

Hamilton Glass and Patience Salgado, ART 180 made these ornaments for Virginia's tree/Patricia Leslie

Can you spot three moving engines with headlamps? Patricia Leslie

Now one of the engines has moved out of the picture.  Where did it go? Patricia Leslie

 

The back of the White House, the big house, whose seasonal finery we enjoy/Patricia Leslie

There is an alternative. 

Up at the U.S. Capitol at the other end of the National Mall  is the Capitol Christmas Tree ("This is real!") which last year featured ornaments made by Colorado school children.  It looked more natural and honest, leaning one way a little bit with uneven branches, to wit, a heckuva lot better than the National Unnatural Christmas Tree. 

Or, what about permitting each state to design its own tree?  And ornaments.  What an incredible idea!  (Engineers prohibited from entering.)

Please have a look, see what you think, and write soon.

Weekend Flights

The remainder of 2013 scheduled performances at the National Christmas Tree for which the people of the United States are truly grateful are:

Wednesday December 18, 2013

5:00-5:30 pm Louise Archer E.S. Chorus

Vienna, VA

6:00-6:30 pm Robert E. Aylor M.S. Chorus

Stephens City, VA

7:00-7:30 pm Olney E.S. Chorus

Olney, MD

8:00-8:30 pm Kent Island H.S. Wind Symphony

Stevensville, MD

 

Thursday December 19, 2013

5:00-5:30 pm Virginia Women’s Chorus

Charlottesville, VA

6:00-6:30 pm St. Mary’s Bryantown Choir

Bryantown, MD

7:00-7:30 pm West Springfield H.S. Madrigals

Springfield, VA

8:00-8:30 pm Mayfield Singing Ambassadors

Manassas, VA

 

Friday December 20, 2013

5:00-5:30 pm Maranatha Gospel Choir

Fredericksburg, VA

6:00-6:30 pm Boyle School of Irish Dance

Alexandria, VA

7:00-7:30 pm Lewisburg Area H.S. Concert Choir

Lewisburg, PA

8:00-8:30 pm NPursuit Jazz

Richmond, VA

 

Saturday December 21, 2013

1:00-1:30 pm Children of the Light Dancers

Fairfax, VA

2:00-2:30 pm The Christmas Singers

Gaithersburg, MD

3:00-3:30 pm Central Bucks West Chamber Choir

Doylestown, PA

5:00-5:30 pm Victory in Praise Dancers

Baltimore, MD

6:00-6:30 pm Ox Hill Baptist Youth Choir

Chantilly, VA

7:00-7:30 pm Blue Ridge Thunder Cloggers

Waterford, VA

8:00-8:30 pm Tru Voice NYC Singers

New York, NY

Sunday December 22, 2013

1:00-1:30 pm Hearts of Gold

Linthicum, MD

2:00-2:30 pm Bull Run Cloggers

Manassas, VA

3:00-3:30 pm Washington Mennonite Chorus

Washington, DC

5:00-5:30 pm The Voices of Zion

Washington, DC

6:00-6:30 pm Metropolitan School of the Arts

Alexandria, VA

7:00-7:30 pm Linda Clark

Richmond, VA

8:00-8:30 pm Voices in Praise

Friendship, MD

Too perfect symmetry/Patricia Leslie

 

What:  The National Christmas Tree

When:  Now through January 1, 2014

Where:  In the Ellipse south of the White House

Metro station:  Farragut West

Cost:  It's free!

patricialesli@gmail.com

 

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, Washington, D.C.

The Capitol Christmas Tree from the White River National Forest in Colorado. The "People's Tree," an Engelmann spruce, was 74 years old and 73 feet high. If you look closely, you may be able to see what I think is Jupiter, about equidistant between the Capitol and the tree/patricia leslie

 

 

 

Colorado school children made more than 5,000 ornaments for the Capitol Christmas Tree and other Washington, D.C. sites. The tree's lights come on every day at dusk and are turned off at 11 p.m./patricia leslie

 

With backs to the Capitol and looking down the National Mall towards the Washington Monument or what looks like an upside down golf tee/patricia leslie

 

Hanging on the Capitol Christmas Tree is one of the ornaments made by Colorado school children/patricia leslie

 

The Washington Monument framed by the Capitol Christmas Tree.  The tree stands on the Capitol's West Lawn, below construction of the 2013 inaugural viewing stands at the Capitol. The U.S. Forest Service chooses a tree every year from one of our 155 national forests.

 

This year's tree traveled 5,000 miles from Colorado to Washington, stopping in 30 cities and towns for more people to enjoy. A song by Lindsay Lawler of Nashville, Standing Tall, was chosen from 300 entries as the Capitol Christmas Tree song, and the first Capitol tree art competition was won by Cheryl St. John of Colorado, for Awaiting Spring, which will be used on the cover of the CD featuring music for the trees. If no one is there, will they hear what we hear?/patricia leslie

 

patricialesli@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas at the U.S. Botanic Garden

By the Queen of Free

No matter how many times you have been, the glory and peace of the Botanic Garden is a cure for what ails you in the middle of a wintry afternoon with no sunshine and grey skies.

The soft lighting, the contemporary quiet music which meshes into the background like so many of the ferns, the whispers of the crowd, the colors, the gigantic tree beautifully decorated, the leisurely pace of the visitors, the artistic works here and there and green green everywhere, mix to soothe troubled minds and bodies.

I call it a "salve of peace" unlike that found anywhere else in D.C. Even the exterior of the building adds fitting elements to the serenity.

It helps to accompany a child to the Garden and see more of the wonder through her eyes, but she is not vital to enjoyment.

And the trains! The trains!

They fascinate all the big and little ones as they weave terrific preludes to “The Polar Express” showing down the street at IMAX at the Natural History Museum where most of the audience is adults, and I know why: We want to believe. Go and see for yourself and tell me I am wrong.