Needles, Needles Everywhere

I guess most families have Christmas traditions and my family’s tradition is picking out the perfect Christmas tree!

When my 2 sons were younger, we would always go to a tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree. That was so much fun. We would dress in our warm clothes and comfortable shoes and head out to one of the farms, generally on Johns Island, Ravenel or Wadmalaw Island.

This “trip” took most of the day because we had to wander the grounds to make sure we had the best tree they had to offer. It had to be a very tall tree—and it had to be a full tree. I remember one year we purchased a thinner tree and NO ONE was happy.

It also had to be fresh—losing no needles as we pulled and tugged on each branch to see how many needles would come off in our hands.

Looking back on my childhood, that was not exactly how my parents handled Christmas tree shopping. Some years, we would go to a local Christmas tree lot and pick out a tree. (But never over 7-feet as our apartment could only handle a 7-footer.) Other years, if my parents couldn’t afford it, my dad would go somewhere in the woods to cut a tree.

Any idea what most look for when they are in the woods searching for a tree? Me neither!

One particular Christmas, the tree he brought home was sad, to say the least...

Yes, it was 7-feet tall, but that tree was sooooo sparce. It wasn’t as bad as a “Charlie Brown Tree” but not far from it. All my mom could do was just stand there, staring at the tree that my father was so proud of, and not say a word.

Now we didn’t have a Christmas tree stand, so my dad made us one from 2 pieces of wood in the shape of an “X” and nailed it to the bottom of the tree.

Some of you may be familiar with that kind of stand... Maybe not! Anyway, you can probably see where this story is headed...

Mom got out all the Christmas decorations and began decorating the tree. We had a lot of ornaments that resembled “Christopher Radko” ornaments, but we didn’t own a real “Radko.” They were all ornaments that looked like the German-made ones—but they were all very inexpensive. And then she started with the tinsel—one strand at a time!

NO ONE ELSE could help!

If you didn’t decorate with one tinsel strand at a time, you couldn’t help. She worked on this for hours and hours... (and hours)…

The tree topper was placed on top and finally the beautiful, “colorful” tree skirt—an old white sheet that was supposed to resemble snow. But the sight was beautiful to me—even with its sparce branches, its homemade tree skirt and homemade tree stand.

Remember what I said about the tree stand?

In the shape of an “X” nailed to the bottom of the tree... That’s right folks!

So, the tree had no water supply, which meant in a day or 2 that the tree would begin to dry out—and dry out it did.

A few days after we had completed decorating the tree, I heard a strange sound. And this happened every time I came in the front door... “What is that sound?” I asked my mom. It sounded like a rain storm. We just couldn’t figure it out. A few more days passed and still that strange sound—every time I opened the front door.

I walked over to where I thought the sound was coming from and grabbed a hold of the tree branch. All of the needles on that branch came off in my hand.

When I went to take a closer look at the tree, to my amazement, it was void of almost all of its needles. The only things left on the tree were ornaments and thousands of strands of tinsel. What we had heard were all the needles raining down on the presents and sheet under the tree making the sound like fallen rain.

So, the week before Christmas there was not one needle left on this tree. THE TREE WAS DEAD. All we could do was giggle at the situation (and every time we passed by that dead tree).

We took the tree down the day after New Year's and there was not a single needle remaining on it nor under it. Boy, were we embarrassed to carry it out and put it on the curb!

And so... we hope that you and your family share memories and traditions that you look forward to each year. It’s not the presents that are important during this most special, sacred time of the year, but the time we spend together making those unforgettable memories that fill our hearts with joy and laughter.

Out of all the trees we’ve decorated, ask me which tree I remember the most?!?!?