What about the Canadians? Life here, north of our American cousins, with our dog, Scout.: CHRISTMAS TREE HUNT

Now that we live in a place with livingroom big enough for a Christmas Tree, we had to go get one! I refuse to buy one from a lot. Not because I dont' like the trees in the lots, quite the opposite, those trees are always beautiful! I dont' want to go to a lot, because all of my happy, childhood Christmas Tree memories involve a "hunt" that ends with someone sawing down a tree. Those are memories I want to continue having!

Our family used to bundle up, head out into our "deep dark forest" (the back 40 of our pasture,) seek out the best tree Mother Nature could provide in the pairies, saw it down, tie ropes around it and haul it all the way back to the house. This was a tradition and it was one of my favorites. Our trees were rarely perfectly shaped the often had bare spots and frequently they had a terrible lean to them, but once decorated they were always glorious in their own way. We loved every tree because it was ours! I can remember years where the tree actually fell over, splashing water from the tree stand everywhere, smashing ornaments and cause squeals from us girls! I remember once or twice, Dad actually tied the tree to the stair railing with fishing line to keep it from leaning and falling over. I remember Dad drilling into the trunk to shove branches from other trees in the holes, creating the illusion of a very full tree. I remember the cussing that always accompanied the job of wrapping lights on the tree. I remember throwing loads of tinsle onto every branch we could reach, and the way the Angel was our topper of choice. Others may share similar memories of decorating, however if their tree came from a box, they missed out on one important thing....the adventure! The adventure that comes with finding a tree, the adventure that comes with untangling, and wrapping lights, the adventure that comes with strategically decorating in order to maximize branch capacity, the adventure that comes with going to bed never knowing if your tree will still be standing upright when you get up in the morning. I don't blame those who prefer not to partake in the "adventure" however, I for one, am not ready to leave it behind.

Our tree stands in our livingroom, bare spots to the wall, pinecones still attached, branches pointing awkwardly upwards, waiting to be decorated, to fulfill it's destiny as a 'CHRISTMAS TREE!"