Merry mystery of motorway Christmas trees
JIM SMITH, from Glasgow, does a lot of driving as part of his job.
One day last month he was travelling down to Ayrshire and was happily driving along the M77 when something caught his eye.
It was a beautiful day and he was sure he saw an object twinkling in the summer sunshine off to the side of the road, between the turnoffs for junctions five and six.
When he glanced over he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
He was sure he saw a fir tree in the field adjacent to the motorway, resplendent in Christmas decorations. Surely not? Jim had driven past it before he could have a proper look, but the image stuck in his mind for the rest of the day and he reminded himself to check on his way back up the road later. Sure enough, he was right. Not only that, but there were two smaller trees beside the big one and those were decorated, too. It was a family of Christmas trees!
All that was missing was an angel on top, although maybe that had been blown away.
Around a week later, Jim was travelling down the motorway again.
He wasn’t in a rush so when he spotted the trees, still decorated with baubles and tinsel, he came off at the next junction for a closer look.
It was a fair old walk — he had to climb over two fences and across marshland — and when he reached the trees there were no clues as to their purpose.
Maybe someone thought the passing commuters needed cheering up with some festive fun.
Or maybe the phantom decorator thought Christmas trees were appropriate for the horrible weather we endured in May.
Jim says he’d love to know, but whatever the reason he says it definitely makes the motorway a merrier place to be!