Christmas Tree Hunting

Some people go hiking through a Christmas tree farm or the forest up in the hills to find that perfect tree for their living room, cut it down themselves, and bring it home to decorate with lights and ribbon, ornamental bells and balls, figurines of Santa Claus and reindeer, angels, snowflakes, candy canes, bows, icicles, and other assortments of random items, porcelain dogs and cats, ballerinas and figure skates, football icons, famous monuments, Baby's First Christmas, trains, trolleys, pretty shoes, a giant glass fish, and pretty much anything else you could think of. Or is that just my family?

As festive as cutting your own Christmas tree down sounds, my family goes the other route: driving the 2 miles to the local tree lot (literally some trees on a section of parking lot sectioned off by a chain link fence) to look at some of the bundled trees while I play Christmas music from my iPhone. I stood next to the dirty trailer with an old and scruffy, but friendly dog, listening to music while my parents looked through the trees, making comments every now and then like, "That one's too skinny" or "That one's too bushy."

But then there it was: the tree. It towered above us with an air of dignity, its green pines shining brightly against the hazy white sky and every branch lightly hanging off its trunk, each one reaching out a little further than the last. Maybe it was Nat King Cole's velvety voice softly singing about 'chestnuts roasting on an open fire' through the tiny speakers on my phone, but at that moment I felt it: Christmas was here. And there was no stopping it.

Everyone knows that when I get the Christmas bug, it's sticking around until New Year's. Christmas music, Christmas movies, Christmas tea and hot chocolate, Christmas cookies.... but nothing tacky. I keep it classy: no Christmas sweaters or Christmas jewelry, no singing elves or shiny tinsel. I admit I do have a snowman snow globe though...

I don't know whether it's the chilly weather outside, the smell of holiday spices, the family togetherness, the Christmas cups at Starbucks, or even the idea of Santa Claus, but for some reason, the holidays are a happy time for me, so I like to keep it going for as long as I possibly can.

Happy Holidays.