The Story of a Christmas Tree

One of the holiday traditions that I've carried throughout my life is the tradition of the tree. Yes, I know that its origins are pagan, and adaptations to the celebration of Jesus' birth have weathered many controversies. Regardless, for me, it is a tradition that brings family together to share memories of joyful times spent celebrating the birth of my Savior. In my opinion, enough said.

In years past, our family has been through many different tree phases ... the artificial tree of my childhood, finally replaced with real green in my teen years. Cut trees purchased from a lot, from Home Depot, from the Boy Scouts, or the local nursery. We even had one year where we used a live potted tree ... a story of mishap and magic that ends with, the last time I saw it, a 30 foot monstrosity in some unfortunate someone's back yard in Colorado. I guess the Colorado Blue Spruce isn't so named without reason. They grow very well in their native state.

The last few years, we have ventured as a family to the mountains of Colorado to help the Forest Service thin out their evergreen tree population. For a mere $10, you can go into the National Forest (designated areas only), and cut down the tree of your choice, within some size limitations. We've enjoyed each unique "Charlie Brown" tree as the years have passed.

This year, we found ourselves in Canada, and as with everything, tried to figure out how things work here, and what opportunities were available.