The Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree, a symbol of life and light, is for many people an integral part to the Christmas festivities. I do not remember a single Christmas without the sweet smell of an evergreen tree filling the house and it’s etheral glow lighting up the room. Some years we would walk into the forest and cut down a spindly tree, other years we would buy one from the store and strap it to the roof of the car, occasionally we would go to a tree farm. Our trees came from a variety of places but they were always special to us. Even though there were some discussions about purchasing a plastic tree my papa always preferred a real one. I share his affinity for the live trees.

This year we found our tree at Prairie Valley Christmas Trees. We selected it at end of November but it remained at the farm until just a couple days ago. We like to keep our tree up until January 6th (the epiphany) and sometimes longer so it makes sense to set it closer to Christmas day so that it lasts until then. After church on Sunday we went to cut down our fluffy Douglas Fir and tied it precariously to the top of the van. The owners of the tree farm were very kind and had hot chocolate, cookies and a little gift for the children. While it wasn’t the same as trudging through hip high snow in the search for a tree with more than eight branches it was still very special.

Our stately tree waited one more day before getting dressed. We had to gather our random yet meaningful collection of ornaments and the tree’s girth meant we had to purchase a few more light strands. But oh! How stately our tree looked covered in twinkling lights and shiny ornaments. The excitement resulted in constant reorganization of the ornaments on the lower branches and a few ornament casualties. Now our lovely tree lights the way for our Christmas celebrations over the next couple weeks.