Oh Tannenbaum...

Time for the annual excursion to find the perfect tree.

Growing up, my family always trekked out "into the woods" (well, it was a farm, but to an 8 year old it seemed like woods) and searched for the tree that would be the canopy for all the wishes and wonder of our living room. Each year my mom said "how about a blue spruce" and each year my sister an I would cry "no, no blue trees". We also always trekked out with the same family - through snowy blizzards, unseasonably hot days, rain, sleet or sometimes even the perfect winter day. We always had hot cocoa for after the tree, and then had lunch and bought some ornaments and then us kids slept happily on the way home.

Senior year in high school, some friends didn't believe we did this. So we brought them along - on one of the chilly years. I fondly remember seeing G & M huddled under blankets wondering where the fun was. To me, the fun was in the tradition. I loved going out, and as I got older I appreciated it even more. Through college our families would arrange time for us to go out and get out trees. It was a ritual that always meant my favorite season was officially here.

And now, although our space is limited, recent apartments have always been able to hold a small tree. So today we donned on our snow boots, bundled up and me and my friend, who for 30 years have looked for trees, trekked out with spouses and children to find our perfect tree.

An excursion it was. The first place we went to was sold out. The second place you couldn't cut your own. Luckily her parents had gotten lost and stumbled along a third location, which turned out to have few tree and mostly short (I mean, 3 ft short) and wide. So after about 3 hours we decided to go to one last place, in which we couldn't cut, but at least had Santa, cause little Jack was starting to get a bit bored. While we found a great tree, I am feeling a bit cheated, since my honey wasn't on the ground with a say, but we did have a yummy lunch and some great chocolate chip cookies. And little Jack got to tell Santa that he wants a train, and I got to hang out with Carter and spent another year with my best friend and her family trying to find the perfect tree.

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