We went to a Christmas tree farm way out in the country this weekend, hiked up the side of a mountain, trudged through snow drifts, got wet socks, argued about which tree was best, and finally came to a resolution and started cutting.

Through the snowy roads with sleet falling the tree rode atop our car back home, miles and miles away.  We were concerned that it wasn’t being watered for a long time, but the freezing rain took care of that.  I felt a bit sad that we had cut down a little tree effectively ending its life.

In the house, past the furniture, needles scattering everywhere, we finally jacked it up in its stand and screwed it in tight for a good winter’s night.  Is that the hardest part?  Or is it the lights?  Every strand of lights from years past seemed to have some problem.  Some don’t work at all.  Others half work.  Some blink, but only half of them.  Where are the blinker bulbs?  “They’ve just got to blink,” exclaimed my wife!  I don’t care.  May be this year my fantasy of a tree with only hanging decorations and no lights might be the best bet.  No not this year. We found at least a couple of strands, bulbs pieced together, that lit up.  Chalk it up to Catherine’s glowing determination.

Then the hanging of the decorations – no time to have a traditional family project, each one placing their favorite on the Christmas tree in just the perfect place.  We had to eat dinner!

“Wait!!  Wait!!”  I suggested to our family.  “Let’s at least hang a few together.”  So we stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, set aside all the things to do, and hung some cherished old family decorations on the little country tree.  Instead of making food a priority, we made each other most important.  Each decoration brought back a memory:  the angel was a gift from our firstborn’s baby sitter, some 20+ years ago, the flying monkey we got on a trip, the obese cardinal sitting on a nest of holly branches from a remainder sale for $1 at Walmart when our second-born was only 5.  The year we bought the house.  He’s going to be 18 soon.

Funny and wonderful how family memories taste so much better than an everyday dinner.

Please share YOUR Christmas tree memories in a comment below (or Hanukah candles, or your traditional celebrations).

***Coming January 4th – a new diet program from Dr. Norris Chumley, that you will love!***