Today's Reading
"Anything."
"Let's see if Orene will put me up while I'm down there so you and Randy can have your time together too. No arguments."
"Fine."
"And I do have to go to Virginia Beach to see Mom the weekend before Christmas. I'll drive back to Richmond that night to check my mail, then come back for the Christmas Tree Stroll and spend Christmas with you."
"Perfect!"
Sheila slid the broad-tip marker across the dates. "You'll check with Orene for me?"
"I'll talk to her today and give you a call back. We're going to win that banner for sure with you on my team."
Sheila's thought flowed right out of her mouth. "I wonder how they'll feel about an out-of-towner and the newest resident of their little town winning the coveted banner?"
"Hadn't really considered that, but I guess that's for us to find out," said Natalie. "They'll be fine. You'll see."
"Let me know what I can bring from the city to hedge our bets."
"Oooh, excellent idea." Natalie picked up a pen. "I'll start a list."
Sheila could almost hear the ideas pulsing through Natalie's brain.
"I'll send you the flyer from last year," Natalie said. "It's hard to explain over the phone. The short version is each team adopts a tree. Then, we have to pick a theme, and a name for our entry. If there's something similar, they make you come up with another plan, so I want to get ours in early. Oh, and after the stroll awards are announced, they distribute the competition trees to families in need across two counties. Isn't that awesome?"
"It is. Oh gosh, there are a million ideas already floating through my head." Sheila jotted down a quick brainstorm of ideas, including snowflakes, antique toys, rose gold, stockings.
"Mine too. Orene has scrapbooks from every single year. I'm going to check them out this afternoon. I'll send pictures so you can see."
"Okay, yeah, I'll think on it too." But Sheila knew Natalie was off and running. "You've already been on Pinterest, haven't you?"
"Maybe. A little. And Instagram, and TikTok, and you don't even want to know all the time I've wasted researching this already," Natalie admitted. "We need something original. Nothing much store-bought if possible."
"Well, then I won't bother with doing a bunch of shopping here," Sheila said. "We'll come up with something spectacular! I'll bring my glue guns."
"In the past, some winners based their tree designs on holiday movies or songs. The local seamstress did one that looked like a winter wedding gown last year. The garland was shimmering fabric with pearls and beads. It was drop-dead gorgeous."
"I've seen those Christmas tree dresses. Do you need me to bring my big pre-lit tree. It's a really nice one. It looks totally real?"
"No. The town purchases the trees from the Christmas tree farms here in the county. It's part of the entry fee. We get to pick the height and type though."
"I like the look of long needles, as long as they aren't in my house," Sheila said.
"True. The short-needled trees seem sturdier, though. Depending on what we decide to do, we might need that. We get the whole business week to decorate, not that it'll take that long, but it gives us some flexibility to do other things while you're here too."
"Which is why you want me to come for two weeks."
"Exactly. I'm going to warn you, this town grows on you fast," she said, as if tempting her.
"You don't have to worry about that. I'm a city girl from my salon-touched roots to my pedicured toes." Sheila jotted a note to get her nails done before she went.
"I'll let Orene know we'll both help with the Holiday Warmup," Natalie said, "but everyone pitches in. That's just how folks are around here."
"Chestnut Ridge sounds like a fairy-tale town."
"In the best possible way, and everyone is genuinely nice. If you're lucky, it'll snow. There's nothing more breathtaking than these mountains blanketed in fresh snow."
"It's been a long time since I've seen a white Christmas. Do you want me to bring my tree for your cabin?"
...
