The Great Christmas Tree Search

Growing up my parents never once owned an artificial Christmas tree. We always had a tree that Dad cut down himself near the lake. Going to find the Christmas tree was always alot of fun! I remember trying to talk Mom into a taller or fatter tree every year. I hadn't been on a Christmas tree hunt in a very long time, since I married an 'artificial tree' man. This weekend fixed that and I have never had a better time picking out a tree.

We got started a wee bit late in the day. Yesterday was foggy all day long. Seriously! I had never seen fog so thick in all my life. It would have made the most awesome game of hide and seek ever. Mom was complaining that we wouldn't find a tree in the fog and even if we could, it wouldn't be before dark. I found the most awesome tree right away. It was like a fifty foot tree but forty-five foot of it was only trunk. Mom wouldn't give the tree a chance; but, if she had let us hack off the forty-five foot trunk we didn't need we would have had the perfect five foot tree she wanted without any hassle -- but noooo-- she wanted to keep looking. (Trust me, she regrets it!) The next tree I found had charachter, it had a funky shape to it and I loved it. Mom didn't, she said she didn't want a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Fast forward a little bit and we're still looking. Mom is asking me to look at a map because she wants to find a field where she thinks a good tree will be growing. When I realize I can't read the map I notice it is getting dark, and seriously, within five minutes it is pitch black outside. I guess the fog kept us from noticing the suns descent. At this point Mom is gripping the only way we'll ever find a tree is if it is growing in the middle of the road because we can't see anything. It starts lightening which helped. I thought so anyway because we could see all the trees every couple of minutes. Even if it was only for a few seconds. Mom didn't exactly agree. At this point we're all driving down a little dirt road in the middle of the woods hanging out the windows trying to find a Christmas tree with our headlights and a tiny flashlight that you have to shake to get light from. Believe it or not Greg and Mom were still very choosey. We passed up several perfectly good trees because either Greg complained it was too small or Mom complained it was too see-through. It wasn't very long before the rain caught up with the lightening. At first it just sprinkled but with one very loud crack of lightening it began to pour. Mom started totally wigging out at this point. Evidenly there is some little part on the vanigan that makes the whole thing quit when it gets wet and the little dirt road we were driving on was quickly becoming a little stream. We did okay until we got to a part of the road that was completely washed out. Mom got out and walked through the puddle trying to figure out which part was shallower because turning around probably meant getting stuck in the mud. After alot of trecking through the puddle and second guessing herself at the wheel she finally floored it through the puddle. She was seriously freaking out at this point. Hypervenilating and everything.

It didn't take long to get to an even bigger puddle. This time it was my turn to go through the puddle. Imagine me in the middle of a thunder and lightening storm in my church clothes (yes, I thought we would find a tree in time to make it to church) walking through a puddle. Mom made it through again without the vanigan dying so we kept going. Mom was not looking for a tree at this point. I kept telling her to slow down so I could see better but she wanted to get to the main road as quickly as possible. Yep, my Mom was driving on four bald tires. No tread whatsoever on a slippery wet dirt road up and down hills in the middle of the forest with no cell phone service. Somehow we made it safely to a paved road and miracle of miracles the perfect Christmas tree was growing right in our headlights. Mom didn't listen to Gregs complaints of it being to small this time. Using two serrated bread knifes and a dull hatchet we cut down Mom's Christmas tree in the middle of the storm. It's a wonder that we didn't get struck by lightening!



I had SO much fun but I have a feeling I'm not going to be able to talk Josh out of his artificial tree any time soon after this adventure. Oh and that vanigan part that wasn't supposed to get wet stayed dry driving through two huge puddles but it got wet on the bridge going over the lake out of the woods. Mom coasted over the bridge and then we followed her all the way home stop and go the whole way. It was the best Christmas tree search ever!