Finding Our Family Tree

Going out and finding the right tree is one of my favorite parts of the holidays. It has been a family tradition of mine forever, beginning with trips to the Lazy J Tree Farm and taking on many variations over the years including other tree farms, Forest Service permits, and even a tiny fir tree gifted in the Christmas spirit from a kind old man at a tree lot the first winter I was a single parent living on my own. This year’s tree turned out to encompass a whole collection of experiences, with it being our first tree together as a family, on our new homestead, and one that we were going to harvest from our own property. The winter storm that brought about 7 inches of snow on our planned tree-cutting weekend added yet another element of festivity. This was looking to be a most auspicious tree experience, indeed.

 In a clearing up above our house, someone planted a stand of Douglas-fir and Grand fir, mostly just a little to tall to make for good holiday trees, except for one Grand fir I had spotted that was just right. My choice was confirmed when my son pointed it out on a walk and asked if that was the tree I had my eye on. We had found our perfect Yule tree.

On a Sunday morning we bundled up in winter gear, hats and mittens, grabbed a saw and sleds, and hiked up the hillside through the woods behind our house to cut our tree.

Corey limbed it up around the height that looked right for our living room, and in no time at all, our tree was down.

It was quite a surreal experience to stand in the silent snowy woods, on our own ground, harvesting our tree together. I don’t think I could have ever imagined anything more perfect.

We hiked back down the hill through the woods, Corey with the tree slung over his shoulder, Rosemary carrying the saw, River sledding down the hill and myself attempting to capture it all with photographs.

And now it stands in our living room, decorated with all our handmade ornaments, cranberry popcorn garlands, lichens, and a few sentimental ornaments from my childhood that have hung on every tree I have ever had over the years. It stands for all the things a Yule tree represents, like bringing living greenery indoors in the coldest, darkest time of the year so we remember the sunny, green, growing times. The illumination of the twinkling white lights remind us that light is always present within the darkness. It certainly adds a great deal to the spirit of holiday festivities and traditions. But it is also something more. It is a family tree. I have come to learn over the years, and especially the last few, that family does not have a fixed definition set in stone. Families can look like all sorts of different things. Families have certain aspects of permanence and posterity to them, and yet families can change and reconfigure. When it comes down to family trees, there are the family trees we come from, the family trees we plant ourselves, and the family trees we find. This holiday season, and all throughout the rest of the year, I am feeling very grateful to be finding a family tree together with my partner, Corey. Sometimes the best adventures happen at home.