We spent Christmas this year at my brother’s country house outside Grand Rapids, Michigan and on the day after Christmas we went to Holland to browse the tourist trap stores.  Holland is pretty much like any other tourist trap across the country; they sell Michigan-specific crap, Stonewall Kitchen mixes, and many candles.  We spent most of the time in one store, where the furniture was made out of fake driftwood, the fabrics all depicted moose and bears, and the scent was relentlessly piney.  There was nothing in there I found even slightly interesting, but everyone else seemed compelled.

I finally escaped the store when the pine candle smell got to be too much for me.

I’m sure the love of the look comes from our family vacations in the Boundary Waters, and since the most I remember getting out of them is muddy and miserable, it’s not surprising that I’m very much into it.  Just surprised that everyone else seems to be, I guess.