That’s right. 750 miles. That’s how far we’ve gone the past several years to cut and bring home our Christmas tree.
Let me explain. Our two daughters and their families live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is 750 miles from our house here in Fayetteville.
We drive there several times a year. We know every curve of I-75 between here and there. Both the mountains and the flatlands are really quite beautiful in all four seasons. We stop at the same rest stops and gas stations every time. Our half-way stop is the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, a lovely place.
I say “every time” it’s all the same, except this last time we made one variation. We passed the Berea exit and went just a few miles further and did a wild and crazy thing. We stopped at Buc-ee’s. That could be the only time we’ll do that, and that stop is probably worth another Citizen article in the future.
We go to Ann Arbor the first weekend in December because our families there are involved in a most wonderful Christmas pageant called The Boar’s Head Festival. I did write about that a couple years ago here in The Citizen. I would encourage you to google that article or find it here in the archives. I believe you can click on my name here at the bottom and scroll down to find it.
To be in Michigan for that first weekend of December we drive out of here right after Thanksgiving, so there’s no time after Thanksgiving to secure our Christmas tree before this trip. And we know the trees around here will be pretty well picked over by the time we get back home. So, after the weekend of the Festival we drive out into the usually snow-covered Michigan countryside to a family owned Christmas tree farm and begin the most thorough, and I mean thorough, hunt for the perfect Christmas tree.
The tree farm we go to is absolutely gorgeous. Oh, the little buildings are just old farm shacks, but the hillsides covered in Christmas trees with a dusting of snow on each one make for quite the iconic scene.
Did I mention we are thorough in our search? Of course, our parameters are set by the height of our house’s ceiling and the width of our space between our table and our wall, but we critique and evaluate every tree with any possibility that it might be the one, the perfect one.
And sure enough, every year we find the one perfect one. And you married guys know which one is the one perfect one, don’t you? Of course, it’s the one your wife decides on. Right?
The last two years the one perfect one has been the same kind of evergreen. They’re called Korean firs. We had never heard of them until two years ago, but they check all the boxes. Their needles are soft, which is vital to one’s health when putting on the lights. The sharp needled firs are quite hazardous and require several bandaids through the process.
These firs have strong branches, good for hanging large ornaments. In addition, they have a unique color. The tops of the needles are a dark green, but the underneath is a shimmering almost silver, quite pretty.
Since it’s a tree farm with live growing trees, the adventure includes sawing the trunk, which for us includes its own ritual. Every family member of the search party must get a few saw strokes. And everyone must have a picture taken of their turn lying on the ground with the saw.
After hauling the tree off the hillside and back to the shack for payment and shaking, then the fun begins to tie the tree onto the top of the car in such a way that it will survive the 750 miles to Fayetteville. They provide the strong orange twine, and knowing we are going the 750 miles, they are most generous with it, telling us to use all we need.
So, with the perfect tree tied on with a mile of twine, we drive back the same 750 miles, making the same stops, over the same familiar highway, bringing one of God’s beautiful Michigan Christmas trees across the Mason-Dixon Line into our beautiful Georgia home for Christmas.
And let me add this. We believe it was Martin Luther, of 16th Century Reformation and Lutheranism fame, who first brought an evergreen tree into his house and adorned it with candles, making him the “Father of the Christmas Tree.” His purpose? To help teach and celebrate that God’s Love never ends, just as the evergreen stays green even through the cold and dark of winter. And the lighted candles declare that Jesus Christ is indeed The Light of The World. And all that still holds true today. Amen!
May the Peace that comes with God’s gift of His only Son as the Babe of Bethlehem touch and dwell in your hearts this Christmas and throughout the year to come.
Merry CHRISTmas, everyone!
And, oh yes, be sure to find a church to attend Christmas Eve. We’ll be at St. Martin Lutheran Church in Atlanta. But wherever we all are, we’ll all be worshipping the Christ Child at the manger. See you there.
Again, Merry CHRISTmas, everyone!
