We used to have a tradition of hunting for the perfect Christmas tree; not in a store, or in a lot, but in the snowy Idaho mountains. We would drive up in our truck or my aunt's 4-wheeler and hike, saw in hand, looking for the perfect tree...one that wasn't too bushy or too bare on one side. But the perfect Christmas tree was never really perfect. We always chose one that looked like it needed a mother to love it, a little shabby and sparse. We always chose an orphan tree, and that was the perfect tree for me. When we got it home we always gave it time to defrost in the garage and then eagerly brought it in, and decorated it. I loved the fresh smell! I loved our silly, not-at-all-fancy ornaments, mostly made by our kids. I loved everything about our fresh-cut orphan tree!!!
When we moved to Utah we found it hard to know where to go to cut down our own tree without driving for hours. We didn't even know where to go to get permits. So we settled for buying a tree from a lot. It wasn't as much fun to circle the trees in a lot. Usually they were bound up and impossible to know what they looked like without unwinding all the twine. After unwinding as many as we had patience for we would end up settling for a tree that was too bushy, not at all fresh, and lacked the orphan-appearance I yearned for. When we got home, we squeezed the tree through the door, leaving a trail of dry pine needles all the way to where the tree stood to be decorated. More and more needles fell as it was decorated. I worried that our new tree was combustible and would suddenly burst into flames at any given moment. And the only pine smell came when I vacuumed up all the dry needles. Needless to say, I was disappointed in our Utah selection of lot trees.
So this year I put off buying a Christmas tree week after week. One day as I was cruising hobby lobby I saw their FAKE Christmas trees at a 50% discount. Never in my life had buying a fake tree ever crossed my mind. It's against my upbringing to do such a thing! Later I asked Aaron what he thought about it. He told me to do whatever (I think he's adapted to living with a preggo once more and knows to just let her do "whatever" and everyone will be happy). So I went back to the store and bought my favorite one. It's far from orphan-looking. It's very symmetrical, but it does look like it came from the forest and it is a little shabby looking, but on purpose. And it still lacks the fresh pine tree smell, so I bought a candle that smells like a fresh pine tree, too. Last night we finally got to decorating a Christmas tree, a few weeks later than normal, but at least it got done. I put on our Kenny G Christmas CD, set out the ornaments, and lit my pine-smelling candle...and we decked the tree! And yes, I am happy with it. I hope in the following years we'll have a chance to cut down more trees in the snowy mountains, but if we can't we will bring out our fake tree, light a pine-smelling candle, and call it good enough.
Our little decorators :-)
2 comments:
Very funny! We actually have had the opposite experience. We have always had a fake tree (while married that is) and never bought one until this year. We went to a tree farm to cut one down and ended buying one the had standing there that was shipped in. So, in a way we cheated too, but it smelled awesome for a few days. Now I think I need to light a candle too if it makes you feel any better. Oh, and we just got the Christmas card. Very cute! Love the pictures! Merry Christmas!
We totally have a fake tree and think it is just lovely! But, I guess we have always had one and don't even have a pine scented candle for it ):
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