O Dennenboom, oh Christmas tree, O Tannenbaum.

One of the things I like most about Christmas is the tree, or to be more precise the hunt for the tree. Strange really, because I know a lot of people who actually detest that part of Christmas. They even got a fake artificial tree in the house, so they won’t have to go through the whole ordeal year after year. I personally don’t like a fake tree and I think it is kind of funny that people are not willing to go out and buy a tree but are, instead, willing to spend an evening (or a day) assembling the tree, bending every branch into the right shape.

Like I said, I actually like it. I like the smell of the trees; I like all the people who are looking for their “perfect” tree, the smell of gluhwein and hot chocolate, the burning fires (when it’s cold – not happening this year!) and the fun that can be had with the tree sellers. Every year this whole ritual brings back a lot of memories too, lovely memories.

When I was a kid, we would go Christmas tree shopping with the whole family, which was sort of fun in the beginning, but the mood radically changed most of the time. First my brother would get bored and then my Mum would get fed up with the fact that my Dad could never find his “perfect” tree. So, when I was old enough, it became a father and daughter “hunt for the perfect Christmas tree”, which was fun. It usually meant we would spend most of the day together, going from one garden centre to another, going from one stall to the next and then back again to the first garden centre to check their stock one more time. In the car we would discus the trees we had seen, all the pros and the cons, sing songs and chat about random stuff. At the time it was just a great day out with my dad, but in retrospect it was a day of learning too. He taught what to look for in a tree (fullness, height, width and colour), how to interact with the sales people (be polite, friendly and don’t forget to smile), how to transport a tree (make sure you have a rope with you) and never forget to bring some gloves.

Last Saturday I bought my tree for this year and I truly believe it is the perfect tree. Thanks for the lessons Dad. There was one downer though, I think I might have been to friendly to the tree selling guy…..he wanted to know my name and phone number :)

* No, it did not snow, that isn't my tree, and most certainly not my car.