Auf Wiedersehen, O Tannenbaum

When I was a girl, our family Christmas tree always came from a large country tree farm; Thanksgiving weekend we would all pile into the old Suburban and drive out to a snowy conifer "forest"--at least the closest thing to one in the flat farmlands of central Illinois. We would tromp around through the trees--probably in circles--until we found the "perfect" one, and after Dad cut it down and secured it to the top of the Suburban we would sing Christmas carols acapella all the way home.

When I was a young married, D and I would go with his parents to get our Christmas tree from the forest around Colorado Springs. Anyone can purchase a permit for cutting down a tree in the National forest around Pikes Peak, so for $10 we could get a beautiful 8 or 9 foot blue spruce, our favorite. To find the "perfect" tree we hiked through the forest for hours, so long that my toes would be numb from cold and we were all ready to drop from hunger. Luckily D's mom, who is a stickler for doing things "right," always had thermoses of still-hot cocoa for us and snacks to tide us over while D and his dad secured the trees on top of their van.

When we moved to CA, we had to find a new tradition. Fortunately, we live near the Santa Cruz "Mountains" (how could I not use quotation marks after just talking about cutting down our Christmas tree previously in the Colorado Rockies?!) and we found the cutest tree farm up there near the summit, where we hike around on the tree-covered hills looking for that "perfect" tree, albeit no longer in snow but often in 60 degree sunshine. The farm even has a hot cocoa station, charming little wooden play cottages, and Boy Scouts to cut down the tree for you. So that has been a fun and special new tradition for getting our family Christmas tree.

Last year's tree-hunting excursion with our good friends the Rosas, and the Santa Cruz Mountains spread out behind us. This was the first year it was really cold! Maybe in the upper 40's with a biting wind--for us Californians, that's COLD!

This year, in the spirit of frugality and resourcefulness, we decided not to go cut down a tree, which costs at least $50. This year our Christmas tree came from our own backyard! We have small redwood suckers growing up all over the backyard, so at my request, D cut down three of them that were roughly the same size and bound the trunks together. We ended up with a Christmas tree of, uh, un-traditional shape--but with lots of special meaning. In fact, D said it was probably his favorite of all the Christmas trees we have ever had. I especially liked the fact that most of the branches began higher than little E's reach, so we were not having to worry so much about him reaching ornaments.

None of the photos turned out all that great, since I was always shooting at night when the light is not good, but they give you the idea of what may be our new favorite Christmas tree tradition!

D on the back deck with the first redwood sucker cutting, which he offered up as our Christmas tree. I had not laughed so hard in a long time. As you can see, it needed trimming and some more branches, which is why we had the idea of binding three cuttings together.

The finished tree in the living room, nestled where our antique bench normally lives. We realized the week before Christmas that, um, it would have been a good idea to give our tree some water.

Because our mantel is tucked away under the house while we work on the fireplace surround, we hung the stockings up higher. This also kept them nicely visible on the days when I have cloth diapers or other laundry drying on the line above the fireplace. Which is actually most days.

These fuzzy and off-color photos are not impressive. Neither is our tiny house, most of which is under renovation of some kind. But esp. the last photo still makes me smile; I had such a hard time getting my heart in tune to the spirit of Christmas this year, and that night--only a few days before Christmas--when the living room was finally bedecked and the stockings were hung "by the chimney with care," I found myself singing "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . . !" I was happy. At peace. Eager for what Christmas Day would bring.

I would never have imagined how much that funny, makeshift tree would lift my spirits and help me prepare my heart for Christmas.

Now the tree is down, the decorations are put away, but the good Christmas feeling is lingering. May it linger in your heart too, as a beautiful, encouraging start to the new year!