MINSTREL WEATHER ^ CHAPTER 

 XII. THE CHRISTMAS WOODS 



iHE Southern woods hang 

 their Christmas trimmings 

 high. Laurel and rhododen- 

 dron, mistletoe and holly, 

 reach up against the walls of 

 tinted bark. Our Northern forests trail 

 greens along the floor, and roped ground 

 pine, pricking through the prone leaves 

 or a gentle snow, appears as a procession 

 of tiny palm trees, come North for the 

 holiday, surprised and lost, but determined 

 to keep together. Under the haw bushes 

 and over spruce roots, wherever shade was 

 thick last summer, partridge vines twine 

 red-berried wreaths and the little plants 



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