When I was a kid, there was no getting around it, like it or not, I HAD to wear my snow boots when we went to get “the tree”…..
Many times we would go down to the creek, or head up the road north to the shelter belt, cross the ditch (which was always full of either snow or mud), enter the forest like rows of trees and search until we found it. Dad in his coverall’s, would get out the saw, climb to the top to trim it out, then we’d drag it back and throw it in the back of the pickup and take it home, where it might have been cut a few more times and trimmed up until Mom thought it looked right. The trunks and branches on the old cedars were rough and knarly and crooked and we had to make sure there was no bugs lurking somewhere in it or on it. It was then placed in one of the big washtubs, filled with sand and rocks, and whatever else we could find to hold it up, then carried into the living room… to await the decorations we would put on it.....
60 years later we go about getting our Christmas tree a little differently, but we went to town today to pick ours out. After looking at several this is the one we settled on. It’s about 3 ft. tall, fat with long branches, and a funny looking top, but it spoke to us, and it’s the one that wanted to come home with us. Jim sawed off the end, stuck it in a stand, brought it in, and I’ll decorate it tomorrow… Even though I use a lot of the same ornaments, each year the tree turns out different and each year it develops it’s own personally…. I can’t wait to see what this one becomes!
We’ve gone to the same place for our Christmas tree every year now for about 15 years…. It’s a tiny farm on the edge of town and the owners live right there on the farm. They always bring in the freshest trees, it’s a family owned operation, they hire extra workers through the season, and everyone is very friendly and nice…. While picking out your tree you may hear the words “Merry Christmas” spoken at least 50 times by the employees, strangers one to another, and I swear the trees talk. If you’re lucky, someone might break into "Jingle Bells", and you’re encouraged to sing along. Everyone there is on the same mission.
What brings the most joy is that there is always so much more to finding the “just right” tree than first meets the eye.
Inevitably, there is a young family with 3 or 4 little kids running around picking out the one they want….. The fun comes when they all get to fighting over which one they think is best…. The folks are looking a the price tags, the Dad’s job is to hold it up as straight as possible, so the rest of the family can look it over, Mom is trying to keep track of the kids who are off to explore on their own, and the employees are making a big effort to keep smiling, and wondering all the while what size vehicle the family might have brought to take the tree home in.
At this particular farm they have their trees separated. Those 3.5 ft. and under, 4 & 5 footers in another area, 6 and 7 footers in a third area, and the “show” trees above 8 ft. Without a fault, the little ones always go to the biggest trees….. You hear Dad’s say things like “we’d have to cut a hole in the ceiling” and Mom’s trying to convince them with reason, that “honey Santa wouldn’t have room to put any gifts in the house if we get a tree that big”.
One of the biggest miracles of the season is when they all, through whatever process works, finally agree on which one to take home….
Dad tries to locate the rope to tie it on the car roof, or clean out the trunk or the back of the pickup so it will fit, while mom pays the bill. The employee carries it, or lifts it on a cart to pull it out to the vehicle, with the kids close behind or running ahead….
By then, the kids, all talking at once, are arguing about where they’re going to put it, which side is the best, wanting to know for sure if they can put it up when they get home, when it can get dressed, asking mom if she knows where that beautiful ornament is they made in school last year out of that pretty yellow paper, and when can they get it some lights, and if for sure it’s big enough, and do they think the dog will like it, and if we’ve got enough of that long sparkly stuff to throw on it, and can they put the gold fish under it so they can be sure and see it, arguing over which one is going to hang what, and can they put glue and glitter on it, and can they call the neighbor kid to come and see it, and are they going to make pop corn tonight, and when will it get presents……
You can’t help but smile as they finally drive out of the lot, envisioning the total chaos when they get home….. There’s bound to be broken lights that won’t work, or that someone steps on, broken ornaments that can’t be hung, broken backs from carrying it in, and the crooked branch on top that won’t hold the star or angel straight…. With 3 kids and a couple of nieces and nephews usually with us, I well remember how it was… The naked tree won’t be naked long, and oh what joys it brings.
