Posts of Christmas Past (Part III)

“Having stuffed our burlap sacks with enough greenery and crimson to garland a dozen windows, we set about choosing a tree. “It should be,’’ muses my friend, “twice as tall as a boy. So a boy can’t steal the star.’’ – From “A Christmas Memory.’’ Truman Capote.

Two weeks ago, went drove out to the Farmer’s Market and bought a Christmas tree. It is now in our front window. It is beautiful.

OK, I know I could save thousands of dollars in my lifetime if I just went ahead and bought an artificial tree. But we’re just one of those families who believe there is nothing like having a “live” tree in the house at Christmas.

Even I can smell it. And I have no sense of smell.

For the past 10 years or so, we’ve been buying Frazier firs that come out of Virginia and North Carolina. Last year and the year before, we paid two people we know to go up and “hand-pick” the trees for us. That was neat.

We’ve tried them all over the years. For several years we went out to the local tree farms and cut our own. That was an adventure, especially when the boys were younger. I remember going up to Smarr one Sunday afternoon in “search of the perfect tree.’’

We kept racing from hill to hill, thinking we had spotted it. It was so cold and windy, we finally settled on one. Then we got it home and it was crooked!

Our new tree is decorated. Now, if we can only get some presents under it!