It’s an annual tradition that dates back some 45 years.
We always trudge out, sometimes in the snow, other times in the rain, to pick the perfect Christmas tree.
At one point, when I was in my teens, my parents brought up the idea of getting a fake tree. A resounding “NO!” was my answer!
When I met my husband, he was a fake tree guy.
I get it — it’s really easy to get a tree out of a box (especially if the lights are already on it), pop it up and be done with it. Our first year married, I introduced him to the Christmas tree farm and the joys of cutting one’s own tree. Thank goodness he liked that experience, it could have been a deal-breaker if he’d insisted on that artificial tree.
So, every year, we take two of our dogs.
We try to switch it up from year to year so that everyone gets a chance to trek across the fields. This year it was Tango and Schooner! Because the service dog in-training is with us for usually just one Christmas, it’s a given that they get one of the spots.
We trekked out to the Douglas Fir trees and took a look around.
As far as you could see there were trees in every direction. Occasionally we’d hear someone else in our field searching for their tree, but never did we run into another family picking their tree at the same time. It was kinda cool to be “alone” in the Fir forest. We found her — the one.
Paul Bunyan had his saw handy and cut the tree down lickety split.
Schooner did a great job of supervising the work. He gave Paul two-paws up for his efficiency.
As per tradition, the annual Christmas tree photos are taken.
All our Christmas tree farm pictures are either of my husband or of me — never are we photographed with the dogs together. Like I said, we typically don’t see anyone else while we’re out in the middle of the fir forest, so we always get our pictures separately with the dogs.
Soon after this picture was snapped, we were back home drinking hot chocolate and admiring our handiwork.
Schooner was most curious about the tree being indoors. He’s not neutered yet, but nor has he started marking (or even lifting his leg), so I don’t think we’ll have any pee-pee issues with the presents under the tree!
Your turn: fake or real tree for you? What holiday traditions do you share with your dogs?
Leave a comment and let us in on your traditions and merriment!
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