Cutting down a tree this year

Every year I want a fake tree. Why? Because fresh trees are such a pain in the ass. Every year the hubby refuses and wants a real one. Normally we get it from someplace like Home Depot or Lowes. This year I realized there was a Christmas tree farm about 30 miles away from us. I recently also learned that there are little towns (and I mean wee little) spaced about 30 miles apart all over Texas. Because of the cows. ? Yeah 30 miles is about the distance you can move a heard of cattle in a day. Ah the useless trivia I learn every day. This place was cute, in a town called Pipe Creek. Not terribly exciting. My neighborhood in San Diego was bigger. But they did have a Christmas tree farm and this was a first for the kid. Actually it might have been a first for all of us, certainly together it was.

It was cold but fun. You go in, grab a small hand saw and a measuring pole and find a tree you want. Then you cut it down. Simple no? Sure it is! Until the small child decides she should be the one carrying the pole. It's a 10 foot pole. Yeah the bottom is 4 ft and after that it's marked in 1 ft increments. See?



She ran around with this thing like a wild monkey, we thought for sure we'd get cold cocked at some point. Really, we should have a bit more faith in our child. She manged to swing that thing all over the place and not hit anyone at all. Weird.



We picked one, had the hubby cut it down and then we took the tractor ride back to the shop. Not that we needed the ride, trees are light, but we thought the kid would like it and she did.



Thing to note about the particular tree we got, the needles are PAINFUL. I don't know what kind of variation it is but DAMN ouch. Also I don't think they are any bigger or fuller when you get them from a farm. They do smell really really nice though, better than store bought. All in all a fun experience and we bought something 'local'. The kids in the town end up working there every season and I like supporting that.