One of my favorite childhood Christmas memories was the cutting of a Christmas tree. Our family drove to Mud Creek Farms (true name) and wandered around in the cold until we chose a tree. My father pulled out the saw and we cut it down ourselves. Then he'd stuff it inside the station wagon. Why inside and not on top, I'm not sure. Sister MD would squish herself in the back with the tree, (seatbelt probably not on) and I would squish myself into the front, sharing a seat (not even a bench seat) with my mom. Then we'd spend the rest of the afternoon decorating the tree at home.
On Sunday, I convinced CD to drive an hour to cut a tree at the Sleepy Hollow Tree Farm. They had three types of trees: Leyland cypress, Carolina sapphire and Virginia pine. The first two weren't the type of needle that seemed Christmas-tree-like to me, so we chose among the pines. We had one picked out before settling on a smaller, narrower neighbor to it. Seems like they always look bigger once they're in the house, so it seemed the wiser choice. The kids held onto it while CD used the saw. They barely had time to yell "timber" before it fell. The boys carried it without help over to the car and we tied it up on top. We only had to stop once on the way home to retie it. Decorated and lit now, it looks dazzling. Or at least festive.
I wish I could do this for my kids, maybe when they are both older. I did it once with my Dad and it was such a fun disaster. We went during a rainy winter and when it was all said and done, we the tree and the station wagon were covered in mud :)
ReplyDeleteI was sent by DGM and his commenting mission!
Hi Jill, what a wonderful memory for your kids. I do wonder why your dad put the tree inside the car too? What a mess, right? But fun memories for your family anyway. I do think on top of the car is the way to go. Maybe he didn't want to scatch the paint? We have cut live trees ourselves, well my husband did, a couple of times. They were by far the best trees too, so fresh.
ReplyDeleteFrances
Jill's mom speaks........we had a station wagon, and putting the tree inside meant we did not join the folks who stopped on the road to re-tie, or pick up the fallen trees on the way home........
ReplyDeleteAnd now that we don't have Christmas at our house, I miss the cold, often wet, searching for the "perfect" tree to cut.