Commentary By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



For the past several years, my little sister Laura has been wanting to cut down the family Christmas tree rather than buy it from the parking lot of a home improvement store like we usually do.

As much as our mom loves the parking lot trees, my sister, who is 14, finally got her wish this year.

Last week, I told Laura to be ready to go at 8 o’clock sharp on Saturday morning because I needed her to help me do something. I wouldn’t tell her what we were doing because I wanted it to be a surprise.

So I was there at 8:09 sharp (since I accidentally turned off the alarm instead of hitting the snooze button) and off we headed to Beavers Christmas Tree Farm in Trafford.

As we were coming up to the farm, which is absolutely beautiful, she said, “Oh, look at all those trees.” And then when we turned in, she went nuts.

“Are we going to cut down our own Christmas tree?” she asked in the squeaky, high-pitched voice she gets when she’s excited.

We parked, got our instructions and an orange saw from owners Paul and Caroline Beavers, and off we trekked through the trees.

And we walked. And walked. And walked some more, on the search for “the perfect tree.” We went up the hill, down the hill, and then up the hill again.

We looked at Virginia pines, white pines and Leland cypress trees.

The first tree she fell in love with was 3 feet tall and just as round. It was shaped like a Hershey kiss and was very cute, but she decided it was too short.

The second one she fell in love with was about 15 feet tall. We finally agreed that it probably wouldn’t fit into the house, so then the search began for the third-best tree on the farm.

Laura saw it from afar. “I think this is THE ONE,” she said as we walked closer to the tree.

And it was indeed very pretty. It was called a Blue Ice, and its bluish color lived up to its name.

I looked at the tag on the tree, and it was within our price range.

So we slowly walked around the tree, examining it from all angles. She decided which side would face the window and which side would face the living room.

For the ultimate test, she took a picture of it with her cell phone and sent the picture to mom for approval. Mom approved.

Then Laura put the saw to work and immediately realized that cutting down a tree isn’t as easy as it looks.

But between the two of us, we finally felled the magnificent 7-foot tree.

The Beavers greeted us warmly as we returned to pay for our treasure, and they even gave us some hot cocoa with marshmallows.

A young man loaded the tree onto the back of my truck, and off we went.

The next day, we all gathered at mom’s to decorate the Blue Ice. The top two inches of the tree are bent against the ceiling, but Laura would not let us trim her perfect tree.

Our day at the tree farm was by far one of my favorite Christmas memories ever. Laura and I have already decided that starting next year, the whole family will be going to the farm. It will be the start of a whole new family tradition.