Christmas time. It seems to happen just about every year, whether you want it to come or not.
This year I was ambivalent about the Holiday Season. I'd just as soon not give in to making it the big event it is supposed to be. Nothing against those with dreams of sugar plums dancing in their heads, candy canes, a blizzard of shopping catalogs storming my mailbox, the expectations of the 'perfect gift' and stockings hung with care or even Jack Frost nipping in the air; I just wasn't feeling it as the current vernacular goes. It was going to be a low-key event around here anyway, no visitors, no family and no parties on the calendar. Let us wish the new born Savior our best and leave it at that. So, I suggest to my wife, "How about we just skip Christmas this year?" She says, No, I want Christmas. Never-the-less, I don't intend to make a big deal for Christmas.
I do put out some Christmas lights in front of the house. It seems like a cheerful little gesture and brightens the neighborhood with a little effort on my part, no harm there. Well into the short days of December, to the point where it may be too late, my wife says, "We should go cut a tree." I remind her that this is the time when Kadee Christmas Tree Farm (60 miles east) closes for the season, you'd better call first. She uses her phone and they tell her they were going to shut down last weekend, but they decided to stay open this very Saturday until 4 PM. That gave us about 3 hours to get her Christmas Tree selected. We peeled out of the driveway and drove east to the verge of Texas' Piney Woods to hunt for a tree in the tradition of Sunesons for over 20 years.
A cold front was supposed to arrive in the late afternoon, but it was in the 70's (as so often is the case in a Texas tree-hunting December)
With bow saw in hand, we go to wander the back acreage where rows of Virginia Pines are grow and awaiting harvest.
It used to be that around Christmas time and especially on the hour drive into East Texas, we would encounter other cars with a fresh cut tree tied to the top on their way home with the evergreen element for the holiday living room. I have not seen a family car with a tree tied on top in several years. Also, it used to be that we would have 'Christmas Tree Lots' spring up in December in the far reaches of the mall parking lots, with fir and pine and spruce imported from Oregon, Colorado and states where real trees grow green and aromatic. Alas, has it all become plastic and artificial. So it has come to artificial, plastic Christmas trees? What is next, artificial and plastic Jesus?
So despite my wish to skip Christmas, we ended up with a real live Christmas tree.
As is family tradition, we stop on our way home to get barbecue. But even the smoked ribs and brisket at Big Daddy's BBQ did not taste as good as years past. Is it just me, or is BBQ becoming plasticesque as well?
Merry Christmas!
This year I was ambivalent about the Holiday Season. I'd just as soon not give in to making it the big event it is supposed to be. Nothing against those with dreams of sugar plums dancing in their heads, candy canes, a blizzard of shopping catalogs storming my mailbox, the expectations of the 'perfect gift' and stockings hung with care or even Jack Frost nipping in the air; I just wasn't feeling it as the current vernacular goes. It was going to be a low-key event around here anyway, no visitors, no family and no parties on the calendar. Let us wish the new born Savior our best and leave it at that. So, I suggest to my wife, "How about we just skip Christmas this year?" She says, No, I want Christmas. Never-the-less, I don't intend to make a big deal for Christmas.
I do put out some Christmas lights in front of the house. It seems like a cheerful little gesture and brightens the neighborhood with a little effort on my part, no harm there. Well into the short days of December, to the point where it may be too late, my wife says, "We should go cut a tree." I remind her that this is the time when Kadee Christmas Tree Farm (60 miles east) closes for the season, you'd better call first. She uses her phone and they tell her they were going to shut down last weekend, but they decided to stay open this very Saturday until 4 PM. That gave us about 3 hours to get her Christmas Tree selected. We peeled out of the driveway and drove east to the verge of Texas' Piney Woods to hunt for a tree in the tradition of Sunesons for over 20 years.
Those inflatable lawn ornaments - so 2016 - are all the rage, and are found proliferating on lawns all around our subdivision, were even found at the venerable Kadee Christmas Tree Farm.
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| We grab a saw and a tree tag and we are off on the hunt |
With bow saw in hand, we go to wander the back acreage where rows of Virginia Pines are grow and awaiting harvest.
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| Victory for Lumber Jill |
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| A 6-footer fits into the back of the vehicle for the trip home |
So despite my wish to skip Christmas, we ended up with a real live Christmas tree.
As is family tradition, we stop on our way home to get barbecue. But even the smoked ribs and brisket at Big Daddy's BBQ did not taste as good as years past. Is it just me, or is BBQ becoming plasticesque as well?
Merry Christmas!
