Store-Bought Christmas Tree

Steve, Natasha, and Sue decorating our "store-bought" Christmas tree. Photo by Jerry Apps.


Some thirty years ago I said I would never again buy a Christmas tree. After all, Roshara, our Wild Rose farm is mostly a tree farm. Over the past 50 years, we have planted some 12,000 trees—red pine, white pine, Norway spruce. Even a few blue spruce and a handful of fraser firs. Here and there we also have a few Scotch pine and jack pine volunteers.

I reasoned that surely among that collection of trees there must be at least three decent Christmas trees available each year—for Sue and Paul, for Steve and Natasha, and for Ruth and me. For many years that was the case. Each year, the weekend following Thanksgiving, the family gathered at Roshara in search of the perfect Christmas tree. It was a fun time—so many choices, so many acres of trees to inspect.

But alas, the weekend following Thanksgiving this year included blowing snow, slippery roads, poor visibility—a bad weather weekend. We agreed it was no weekend for driving.

The tradition was broken. Once more, I was reminded about using the word “never.” Standing in our family room is a beautiful fraser fir Christmas tree—which I purchased. As to beauty, our homegrown red pine, white pine and Scotch pine trees are merely ordinary when compared to this fraser fir. But beyond ordinary, our own trees are special because we planted them and watched them grow. They are part of Roshara’s history, part of the place’s contribution to our family’s happiness.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Real Christmas trees are special---whether store-bought or homegrown.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

December 14, 9:30 to 2:00 McFarlane’s, Sauk City. Christmas on the Farm.

.For those interested in purchasing my books (Christmas is coming). Get them from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you travel to the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.. They have a great selection of my books for sale, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.