Monday Musings

Following our family tradition, we traveled to a  local Christmas tree farm  the day after Thanksgiving. We arrived shortly after opening time and were able to promptly board the trolley to ride up the hill to the area of the farm being utilized for harvest this season. This particular business is an excellent caretaker of their trees, allowing harvest from only one section at a time and promptly replanting in the spring. Frosty’s system is finely organized: you choose a tree, place your tree pole green end up, and a tree cutter is at your side within minutes. The rest of the process is effortless: a ride back downhill, this time on a tractor-drawn trailer with hay bale seats, to the main building to pay, then well-marked signage to the pickup area. Meanwhile, the tree was bagged up on the hillside, delivered car-side, and secured to the roof. Unfortunately, the tree farm staff did not accompany us home to assist with unloading, carrying up a flight of entry stairs, across the...

Now that Thanksgiving is past, it’s time to move on to another time-honored tradition, decorating for the holidays. Depending on your family background, you may prepare for Christmas or Hanukkah; in our home, it’s Christmas. Time to tidy up from turkey day and head out in search of the perfect tree. We’re fortunate to live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC, where Christmas Tree farms abound. So we wind through the hills and dales until we arrive at our favorite spot and bundle up against the elements.  We trek up and down through rows of towering pines to select the perfect specimen, hail a tree-cutter, ride back in a wagon to pick up our prize where it has been trussed for travel, and strapping assistant loads it up. We follow a caravan of tree-topped cars and trucks back to civilization. The bindings loosed, and our 8-foot Fraser Fir leans on the deck overnight to settle its limbs. Stacks of boxes and bins are trundled from the basement. The next day, the tree is lugged into the ...