Wildlife Christmas

We don't have much in the way of Christmas traditions, but I did start
something a few years ago that I've really enjoyed, and that's a wildlife
Christmas tree.  I started noticing ornaments of various animals for sale
and thought they would make great decorations, and that has turned into
something resembling a collection, though I'm not big on collecting anything
other than plants and bird sightings.

Anyway, I don't take animals with clothing or riding in cars, but I do have
both realistic and stylized animals from all over the world and out of all
kinds of materials.  It seems there are more birds and fish available than
anything, but there is everything from insects to panda bears to reptiles on
the tree.  They come in blown glass, cloisonni, ceramics, paper mache,
copper, natural fibers, lacquered straw, even fabric and beads.  I have a
set of very realistic duck ornaments from Ducks Unlimited and some very
realistic glass trout.  There are great native American ceramic pieces, and
others from African, European, South American, and Asian countries.  I have
American buffalo, armadillos, bears, and moose.  There are African lions and
tigers and elephants.  I used to get really bored with the shiny glass balls
and tinsel, but to me this tree is fun to look at and is almost a miniature
art or craft museum.  Plus it reflects our family's interest in both art and
wildlife, so it is very much 'our' tree.  Other than the animals, all that
is on the tree are glass icicles and this year I added some fun fiber optic
lights.

Linda in Wyoming

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