Family Tradition

No, not the Hank Williams, Jr. variety.

We're starting a new tradition in our household.

You see, I was in a crisis of conscience over the family Christmas tree this year. I wanted to do the most "green" thing, but I didn't want to tofu tree or anything too extreme.

We don't have a fake tree--we've always done real and then bring them to Surfside beach after the holidays to prevent beach erosion--and I wasn't going to buy fake until after the holiday if that's the best option. Also, now that we have a kid, I wanted to make sure we were developing our own new family traditions.

Fortunately. . .my mother solved the problem for me. She mentioned an article she saw in the Chron about local Christmas tree farms and it turns out that there is one just down the road from us: The Holiday Acres.

So we packed up the kid Saturday and set off to cut down our Christmas tree at a local farm.

Now let me start by saying we were limited to a Virginia Pine. My personal preference has always been a Fraser Fir but I figured I could compromise in the spirit of greenness.

Here's what we saw first. A hayride that doubled as tree transport.

Once we were hauled out into the "forest" we were dropped off with a hacksaw and a measuring stick and we had to pick a tree. Here's the lucky tree. Z slept the whole time. Then my DH sawed down the tree. "TIMBER!!!" Time to haul it back to be shaken and baled. . .

This was a hell of a lot of fun!!! I can't wait to do it again. Maybe next year it won't be 80 degrees F and we won't sweat the whole time!!!!

Now all we have to do is get it all decorated. . .easier said than done with a munchkin!!!