O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum!

I got my Christmas tree last weekend and I think this is going to be the start to an annual tradition...

For $8 you can go to a local hardware store and get a permit to cut down your tree on forest service land. So I bundled up, bought my permit, and hopped in the truck with my friends (T was out of town dealing with a rental house we are trying to sell). My friends even made me my own mug of hot chocolate and Rumpleminz (aka peppermint schnapps). We listened to Christmas music on the 20 minute drive west of town. Once we got there we all dispersed, even Carlos, the 20 lb Chiuaua (he's a little chorizo!). After about 45 minutes of hiking and examining trees, I found mine! It was already cut down, actually laying on the side of a forest service road. Once we propped the tree up, we determined that the top half of the tree would make a great "little" tree for our 950 sq ft house. So we trimmed it up and set it aside. I was feeling pretty good about saving a dieing tree rather than cutting a cute fresh little baby tree :)

Now to find J and T's tree. We hiked for another 30 minutes or so, and saw some amazingly large mountain lion tracks in the dried mud. The claws left deep indentations in the dirt... pretty cool and scary at the same time. Luckily there were 3 of us and one was armed with an axe, so at least we have some recourse if one of us were to get nabbed. We kept looking but all the trees seemed to be too big, or they were Ponderosas, which you can't chop down. So we headed back in the direction of the truck, grabbing my little bushy tree along the way.

We got to the truck and were looking near the truck, waiting for our other friends M and K to arrive when I found the Perfect Christmas Tree, about 9' tall, nice and narrow, even branches. It was really perfect, not for our small house but for T and J. So T, J and I all took turns chopping with the axe until it came down. They were so excited!

Meanwhile M and K found their tree and were sawing away. We loaded up our 3 trees, celebrated with a chilly PBR and headed home!

It was a really fun experience that I think I will continue for years to come. It was inexpensive (although once we bought the skirt, and stand it wasn't that cheap anymore! but you only need to buy that stuff once!) Also, it's a great way to get bundled up and enjoy the chilly outdoors in December. I also think it makes you appreciate your tree more. You had to select it out of all the other trees and chop it down yourself. I will definitely do this next year. You could even do it with little kids, not that we are planning on that any time soon, but it would be a great family adventure!