Post - A Tale of Two Phillys

Dec 23

Dec 23 A Mistletoe Shoot: The Best Tradition You've Never Heard Of

"By the way, I'm not taking you out here to kill you."

That beautiful piece of reassurance is a direct quote from my future husband, as said to me two years ago.

His morbid encouragement wasn't all that unreasonable because at that very moment I was sitting wide-eye'd, staring into the passing woods of a state that I had never once visited while riding shotgun down a dirt road next to a man who I had just met in Memphis several hours before.

Of course, Nathan and I already knew each other but had not seen each other in about a year and even then, never spent much time one-on-one, never mind alone in the middle of Mississippi.

Our first stop on this trip? To meet his parents (yep - told ya we like to jump the gun) on his family's farm for a "Mistletoe Shoot".

What is a Mistletoe Shoot? Well at the time I had no idea myself.

As it turns out a Mistletoe Shoot is a laughter-filled tradition for my fiance's family that involves shooting at outlying tree branches in order to knock Mistletoe loose. Mistletoe grows on the limbs of trees and is essentially a parasite, so the tree is probably pretty relieved to have its outskirts used for a little target practice.

I felt artsy with the one of Nathans Mom and Grandfather.

This holiday event also includes a beautiful arrangement set up by Nathan's mom. Her creativity and eye for lovely moments is astonishing.

So, gathered around a gorgeous old tree once again I was lucky enough to attend my second Mistletoe Shoot last week and I have been left as charmed as ever.

The cows on site seem to tolerate the chilly day better than we did, but with a extra layers and blankets wrapped tight, the weather only added to the fun. I've also never had to work harder for a kiss! Thankfully Nathan is far better of a shot than I.

Someone wasn't quite ready for his smooch!

If that living, breathing LLBean-ad-of-a-day didn't provide enough holiday spirit, from there we set off to pick out and haul off a free-range Christmas Tree.

I grew up with a family that only invested in faux trees so the tree gathering is something new to me. In fact, the tradition in my house growing up centered around watching my dad carefully clip the wire hooks of each branch into the tree's center metal beam. The thought of real Christmas trees sometimes makes me sad, but I have found solace in the understanding that in places like MS, timber is the ultimate renewable energy source.

So, let me conclude with saying this: if Nathan actually did... umm... kill me on that car ride back in 2015 I likely wouldn't have realized it, because an afternoon spent on that farm is exactly what heaven would feel like.