Trees On The Nicollet Mall

Today Offspring #2 and I traveled down to Nicollet Mall. We walked between 8th and 2nd, between Macy's and the Minneapolis Library. The mall was crowded and bustling. Trains and buses went past and horns were honking. As we went by the Mary Tyler Moore statue I noticed the trees on Nicollet Mall. When did they plant red oak trees in the midst of downtown? Red oaks seem more like a rural tree to me - the kind of tree you see in pastures with milk cows grazing beneath them. Or you might see a red oak on a slight rise just beyond a wetland. I gotta say, red oaks on the Nicollet mall look awesome. They're about 15 feet high and decorated with white lights. But the light brown leaves that remain on the red oaks in the winter are their finest decoration. We went to the 8th floor auditorium display at Macy's. This year the show was all about elves geting ready for Christmas. We saw animated elves of every color and race. We saw elves sleeping, elves teasing each other, elves baking holiday treats, elves sorting mail, elves chopping chunks off a giant chocolate chip, elves balancing accounting books, elves singing, elves decorating, elves making mistakes, and elves fumbling around blindly with a box over their head. My favorite part was a singing tree choir. The trees had faces and books in their hands. Some swayed side to side with the music. All the trees were smiling and resplendent with their frosted branches and multicolored lights. These were more like Vegas trees than Minnesota trees. They were lively and festive and they made me smile.