People often make
assumptions that are not necessarily true. For example, Michigan is
known as the 'Mitten State'. Does that mean everyone wears mittens
instead of gloves? New Jersey is called the 'Garden State', but I'll
bet there are a number of people who have never planted a garden in
their life. Or Idaho...the 'Spud State'. (There is one you want to
make sure not to misspell. Can you imagine being called the “Stud
State'?)
Maine is called the
“Pine Tree State' and people from away often ask me if we have a lot of pine
trees in Maine?? And if we do, it must make it easy to find the
“perfect” Christmas tree. "Where do I find the “perfect”
Christmas tree?" they ask.
We recently returned
from a trip 'south of the bridge in Kittery' and although still
several weeks away from Thanksgiving and the official start of the
holiday season, I was surprised at the number of trucks loaded with
freshly cut trees that were heading South to far off places like NYC, Pittsburgh, maybe even Miami, locations where Christmas
trees don't grow. Who wants to cut down a palm tree, stick it in a
tree stand, bring it inside and decorate it with colored lights and shiny ornaments? Bet you won't see too many of those in “Country
Living Journal".”
I will admit that over
the years I have spent a great deal of time in search of the 'perfect' tree.
Like the U.S. postal service...through rain or snow, sleet or hail,
my mission to find the 'perfect' tree, I can not fail. Often I
would spend hours, well maybe just a few minutes, wandering in the woods
or at the local Christmas tree farm looking for the 'right' tree. It
had to be about 7 ft. tall, straight as an arrow, plenty of branches
and a nice top on which to place the angel.
Some years it was a
Scotch Pine, very pretty but difficult to decorate because of the
sharp needles. Other years, it has been the more traditional fir
tree. One year we decided to go with a Blue Spruce, and I ended up
needing to get a loan to pay for it. (This one came from a tree
farm.. Not too many Blue Spruce grow wild in the Maine woods)
There were a few years
when several families would get together and make it a social event,
Armed with chain saws and a cooler or two, the dads were off into the
woods, the older kids tagging along, and the younger ones at home
with the moms in the kitchen baking cookies.
After a short ride into
the “backwoods” the search would begin. Soon there would be the
roar of the chain saw, the shout out of “timber” and the crashing
sound of a 30-40 ft pine. That 7 ft top looked perfect from ground level, but now I wasn't so sure!
“Well maybe there is a better one over there.”
By the end of the
afternoon the truck was loaded with trees, some extra greens for
decorating and if we were lucky it might even start to snow a bit,
just for the romantic touch. The house was filled with the smell of
freshly baked cookies, the hot chocolate was on the stove and after
taking a second look at what we had managed to bring home, the
afternoon was deemed a success.
Families grow and move
on, traditions change and the search for the 'perfect' tree takes on
new form and life. It's no longer walks through the woods or the tree
farm armed with a saw. It is now looking for a parking place within a
reasonable walking distance to the store, armed not with a chain saw but a
credit card. Once inside, the selection of artificial trees is endless....and expensive.
Every type and style of tree is on display, with or without lights
and in some cases they even come with scent packets you can hang on
the tree branches to make it smell almost real.
The buy of the day? A
Blue Spruce, 10 ft tall, with lights and a stand, marked down from
$499 to $429. What a deal!
After visiting several
more stores and finding similar results, it was time to put 'plan B'
into action, after all.... this is Maine, the Pine Tree State. Tomorrow,
I'll gas up the chain saw, put on my LL Bean boots and..........
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