Their Woods are Lovely, Dark, and Deep

For six weeks, right after Thanksgiving and up until Christmas, the Québécoise vendors arrive on a Broadway block in New York City. They bring the Canadian woods with the fresh scent of pine to the urban city. They live in a van parked by the sidewalk next to their woods. They construct a shed with two by fours and plastic sheet to house their tools and keep their records. They are out in the cold, in rain and in snow, living in the van, selling the trees, 24/7. It is not easy. Most times we see their smiling faces. Then, there are other times, not in public view, when exhaustion is evident.