Oh Christmas Tree, Poor Christmas Tree...

This year we decided to cut down our own tree. Some of our friends do it every year, and the idea of tramping through the woods in the snow with the boys seemed quite festive. Not to mention that the idea of paying $5 for the permit compared to $50 for a tree at a tree lot was appealing.

We packed the car with hot chocolate, hats, coats gloves, blankets prepared for the worst winter weather conditions imaginable, only to arrive in the woods on the warmest and most beautiful day I have ever witnessed in December. Everything went off without a hitch. Everyone in our group found trees, we cut them down, we tossed them in the pick ups, and we stopped for lunch in Sisters on our way home.

But once we got home I was left to ponder the ramifications of our actions. You see when you purchase a tree from a tree lot you know it was born and raised for that purpose on a nice little Christmas tree farm, no harm done. But we made the mistake of seeing our tree growing in nature, minding its own business, playing with its little tree friends totally unsuspecting of what was to come. I have come to the conclusion that the experience was a bit like butchering your own cow instead of buying neatly package hamburger at the grocery store. The result is a lot fresher, a lot more natural, but hurts a little more.

Poor little Christmas tree. How tall might you have grown? I have taken to apologizing to our tree each morning when I come down stairs and fill its stand with water.