CHRISTMAS TREE FARM

Factual as this is, tree farming is basically a simple operation, and Budbill mostly underlines how comfortable and satisfying it is to picture our living room Christmas tree getting its start in the neat fields and crisp cold air ""far to the north"" in Vermont, cared for by quiet, weathered Marcel and others indistinguishably like him. Carrick's pale, earth-toned watercolors achieve the proper aura of rural open space and silence and though Marcel's tools and workmen appear almost incidental in the quiet landscapes, they show clearly how the trees are transplanted, pruned and wrapped for transport. A refreshingly peaceful, understated aspect of a season too often heralded by hype -- if only one can fred, a mid the pre-Christmas frenzy, the unhurried moment it demands. Worth trying, and, at the very least, a welcome change of pace.