My Christmas Tree

When many people think of Christmas, they think of Santa, cookies, jingle bells, stockings, and of course, the Christmas tree. Some families set up a fake tree that has been stored in the basement for the past eleven months. It has creases, odd folds, and just looks a bit off. Yet for me and my family, cutting down our own tree from a Christmas tree farm in Canton is an absolute must. The day is always filled with joy and the Christmas spirit. For me, going to the Christmas tree farm is one of the best ways to spend time with my family.

My family’s tradition of cutting down a Christmas tree together is one of my favorite, mostly because we all love Christmas so we are all getting along. Our tree “shopping-spree” begins at our house. We grab

Usually my brother grabs a saw and we head out into the field. As we scout out for the perfect tree, we take time to enjoy the wonderful, fresh smell of the pine trees surrounding us. We often ask for input from each other about many factors such as height, width, and evenness of branches. One might even see us running back and forth from tree to tree to get a better look at a tree another has suggested. When we finally find the perfect tree, my dad and brother get to sawing away at the base of the tree while my mom and I hold the top so it does not fall on them. After the tree is cut, we each hold a part of the tree and carry it to the ‘prepping’ station. At the station our beloved tree is shaken to get rid of excess pine needles that could have been hidden in the tree. One can hear the noise from the shaking machine all throughout the farm. After shaking comes the tree stand. Once it has been placed on a stand, the tree then gets packaged up in a net to make it easy to carry and as aerodynamic as possible. As a family, we then take the tree to the minivan and attach it as best we can. Many different bungee cords and straps are secured to make sure our glorious Christmas tree does not become Christmas roadkill. We go inside the small building to pay for the tree and take advantage of the delicious pretzels and scaldingly hot apple cider. Then we pack up our things and get on our

Another fun tradition of this day is to go eat Nachos Navidad at the Taco John’s in Canton. There in the cozy Taco John’s, we sit, talk, laugh, and tell stories. It is one of my favorite parts of this tradition because we all get along and have a good time together. Once we are stuffed, we all pile back into the van and head for home. Even though we listen to the same radio station and sing the same songs, we still have just as much fun. I occasionally look out the back window to make sure we have not lost our tree somewhere along the road. Once we reach our house, we take the tree inside and put it in its rightful place by the window. The first decoration to be put on the tree once we return is always the