Getting ready for Christmas in Portland's living room

As the MAX train I was on pulled to a stop on Nov. 15, I got this shot of Portland's Christmas Tree. Workers had it upright and ready for plumping and shaping. Trimmed branches encircled the tree's base. I wonder if the man in the bucket is trimming or attaching?

After the free "tour" of the Central Library's new eco-roof (more about that on another post), I walked back to Pioneer Square to take more photos of the process.


This fellow explained and demonstrated how to make the branch into an attachment.

You can tell from this direction just how much plumping and shaping will make a beautiful sight for everyone to enjoy once the light switch is thrown Friday night after Thanksgiving.

Here's a close-up of the trunk. I cannot remember for sure, but it seems to me that the trunk is surrounded by a base that doesn't allow the public to get to the branches. By "get to the branches," I mean touch them and/or mess with the lights. I'll have to look at last year's photos to know for sure.

This shot was taken from almost the same spot as the first one, but I was standing in the square instead of on the MAX.


I looked back to Nov. 24, 2007, and found out that my memory still works! You can see the base in this photo of the unlit tree.

And a bit of it at the bottom of this photo of the lit tree.


Good Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, I plan to attend the lighting again this year, for my third time which is all of my Thanksgivings in Portland.