Blue Bottle Trees
by Terri L. French I, like many from Huntsville, Alabama, am a transplant. Yes, I’m one of “those” Yankees — the ones that stay. I’ve lived in north Alabama for 23 years. My “you guys” have long since morphed into “y’alls.” But, I’m not, nor most likely ever will be, totally acclimated to Southern culture. I learn new things every day. For instance, there’s a lady down the road from me who has colorful glass bottles jutting from a tree in her yard. I’d never seen such a thing. Was it whimsical yard art, or did the tree have a drinking problem? Being a curious sort, I went home and spent three hours on the Internet researching the origins of the mysterious “bottle tree.” For you other transplants and uninformed indigenous types, here is what I found. Like many of the South’s oldest and most colorful customs, the bottle tree tradition was brought to this country by African slaves and continued by Southern African American families and white rural folk. What is now more of a decorative yard or garden feature was created for a paranormal purpose. According to legend, colorful bottles were talisman worn by trees. Once the spirits ventured inside the bottles