Mom and dad would wake us up early on a Saturday morning in December. Mom would pack a lunch with lots of hot chocolate, coffee and milk my brother and I would help dad get the old car ready and to make sure the car had blankets,a shovel ,ax and a bag of sand. Then we would load the trunk with the lunch that mom had made for us and I can still hear my sister complaining that the sun was not even up yet and its too cold.
Well, with the car full of gas and all of us loaded in, we started out to look for that perfect Christmas tree. My brother and I would be in the front seat next to my dad and mom and my sister would be in the back seat sleeping.
It did not seem to take very long to get out to the country. I would turn on the radio just loud enough for dad and me to hear the news and weather reports as well Christmas music was being played on the radio.
I started to yawn as the sun was coming up behind the old car. Dad would look over at me and say” you can’t be tired yet my boy, we have not even put in a full day’s work, we both looked over at my brother he was sound a sleep in between me and my dad then we would both laugh.
I would smile and think he was right. I had a good sleep the night before and I should be wide awake like my dad was.
Dad knew where he was going. the three of us would go out in the summer to look for a great Christmas tree in the woods, so when it came time to cut one down, we would have one already picked out.
As we would be driving toward that very special tree, the girls in the back of the car would wake up and mom would want her coffee and my sister would want something to eat, so dad would have to pull over and get the stuff out of the trunk of the old car.
Then mom would get stuff ready before dad would start down the road. I could still smell the fresh brewed coffee coming out of the Coleman thermos, then mom would open the other thermos and pour us kids some milk. We would be on the road for an other hour before we got to the site where our tree would be.
As the time passed, I would be looking out the window and then I would hear mom and my sister in the back talking about girl stuff, as I would call it, and dad was busy humming to the Christmas music from the radio. and my brother would also be looking out the window for animals coming out of the woods.
Well we arrived at the spot were our tree was and the fight would begin between my sister and my mom about her getting out of the car and help getting the tree. I can still hear my sister asking dad,” why don’t you get a chain saw like every one else, ” and dad would give her the look, and she would know to stop and get to work helping her mother. This always made my brother and me laugh then dad would look our way as to say that is enough out of you two its time to go to work.
As dad was digging the ax out of the trunk, my brother and I would start to make a trail to the tree. It did not take me long to cut a trail with our snow shoes on by walking back and forth a few times. Dad would follow our trail to the tree and then would say, ” my boy’s this is the wrong tree. ” Every year he would say that, but this year I hung a red ribbon on the base on the spruce tree, so I would know which one it was.
This year was different, dad handed me the ax and told me to start to cut down the tree. I looked at him and took the ax and started to chop, and I can still hear my sister in the woods saying,” oh great, we will be here till next Christmas”. My mom just looked at her and gave her the mother’s look.
As I was cutting the tree down, I looked at my dad to see a smile on his face. Well the tree came down and all of us took a branch and back to the old car we went. My dad would wrap the tree in a tarp, then tied it up and put it on the roof of the car. After this was done, would all jump into the car and my brother and i would be moved to the back with my sister.
As we started back for home, mom would turn on the radio and grab the last Coleman thermos, and it would be the one with the hot chocolate. With the music on, we would all start to sing, some on key and my sister off key. The ride home did not seem to take as long as most trips going home would. As we were pulling into the drive way, my sister jumps out of the old car and heads into the house to get the measuring tape, so dad and I would know how much to trim off the base of the tree, so the tree would fit into the living room. My brother would head to the garage to get the hand saw. I would help dad untie the tree from the roof rack from the old car.
Well, after we checked the height of the spruce tree, my dad and I would bring it into the house. My brother would go downstairs to get the Christmas decorations and I knew what would happen next. As we watched dad untangle the Christmas lights, we would all hope that the bulbs would work.
As dad was putting the lights on the tree and the tree angel, all three of us would be in the starting position as for the Olympics, but before we could go, we had to wait for mom and dad to put on their special Christmas ornament from their very 1st Christmas together. Then with both hands filled with decorations ready to be placed on each branch with loving care, mom and dad would be sitting on the couch watching us and smiling. After the tree was done, my sister would put on a record of Christmas music and we all would sit in the living room listening to the music being played in the back ground as the smell of spruce filled the house. Then mom would go and get the sears and roebuck catalog and gave us a sheet a paper so we could write our letter s to Santa.
From Santa’s White Christmas
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