O' Christmas Tree

I've spent the past couple days removing Christmas.

The first thing to go is always the tree. Although, it didn't go far. Mike removed it from the house -- but, it's just sitting on the porch. I'm thinking it will be there at least 3 weeks until it finds its way to the curb or to the back yard wood chipping pile.

My favorite part of Christmas is always getting and decorating a Christmas Tree.

When we were kids, we would go out to my great-grandfathers farm. He had acres and acres of Christmas trees. My dad would climb to the top and cut the top off and that would be our tree. One Christmas I can remember him sitting and swinging back and forth, twenty feet in the air, from the top of tree he just cut. There would always be hot chocolate waiting for us back at my great-grandfathers.

Our first Christmas together, Mike and I bought our Christmas tree from the boy scouts. We hadn't thought too much about it, and had no way to secure it to the car to get it home. So, we stuck it in the back seat with the top through the sun roof.

David's second Christmas, he knocked the tree down -- shattering many of the ornaments. That year the tree was propped up against a wall in the foyer. The tree stand had broken and we just couldn't find another one.

One year, after Kate had been born, Mike trimmed the trunk of the tree in the living room. On the couch. There was sawdust everywhere, for weeks and weeks.

Removed trees usually spend sometime on the porch until they find peace. I think last years was there until February.

I love all the ornaments -- mine, Mike's, ours, the kids. Our tree always has a  festive strand of DNA, an old class project that made it on the tree one year and has been ever since.

So, there's always something a little sad about putting it all in a box.

At least I can still enjoy the tree resting on the porch.