December 13, 2007
Tree Cutting 2007
We haven't cut down our own Christmas tree since Trevor was a baby and we lived in New Jersey. The one thing I remember from that experience is that the tree is always bigger than it looks out in the field. Fresh trees last so much longer than the roadside stand variety, which is good for those of us who like to eke out every last bit of Christmas by keeping the tree up until mid-February.
This past weekend, the three of us went to Larry's Tree Farm in Bakersfield, VT for an old-fashioned tree cutting. We'd never been to Larry's, but we heard good things. And they're all true. We were thinking tree farm -- flat, like a farm. But as you approach Larry's, you see rolling mountains of trees in various stages of growth. All trees are $28 -- as long as you can carry it out of there, so if you have a 20-foot ceiling, this place is a bargain for you. In fact, there were many taller trees left, since most people typically have seven- or eight-foot ceilings. If you want something much higher or much lower, the selection is great.
Trevor tried to slide down one of the huge, snowy hills, but got stuck about two feet down. Next time we'll bring a sled like several other people did. He contented himself with throwing snowballs at our backs, fronts and heads. And nearly got himself grounded after one too many snowballs made contact with Dave's exposed neck.
As you can see, Dave has no snow pants on, even though I bought him some last week. You just can't do that on a day like the one we picked. The temperatures were in the relatively balmy high twenties, but a snow squall came through just as we arrived and smacked us with thick, wet snow as we tree-hunted.
It is singularly difficult to pick out one perfect three on a farm of thousands. We found ourselves going farther down into the valley, looking for hidden gems, without thinking about how to drag The Perfect Tree back up the hill. We finally settled on one and got down to sawing. At this point, I'd like to commend Lands End for making really superb winter outerwear. This year (because of the frigid island windes), I bought a knee-length down coat and squall pants and I rarely feel a thing -- even when the wind chill is down in the negative double digits. Lying in the snow sawing wasn't an issue.
This photo is incredibly misleading. Looking at it, you might think that Trevor sawed down the tree. Or that Dave stepped in and helped him out. But really, I sawed down our Christmas tree. Now I know why Dave conveniently "forgot" his snow pants. So because I cut it down, Dave did most of the dragging back up the hills to the car. Except when the Burlington Free Press photographer came by to take our photo. We all happened to be manning a branch at that point. Look for us in the paper this coming weekend!
At the top of the hill, Larry himself was manning the cash stand and directing people to the gift shop where Santa was waiting with free hot chocolate and candy canes. Besides being a great place to warm up after lying in the snow, the gift shop has both utilities (tree bags, wreath hangers, ornament hooks, tree stands...) and fun stuff (ornaments, statues, candles...). It took us a solid hour there and another back, but it was well worth the effort.
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