a charlie brown christmas

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some people head toward the mountains, piling their brood into a pickup, the cold air tickling their fingers. they go to the same place each year--their special spot-- and choose the perfect one, checking the bed of the truck the whole way home to make sure it's secure. others go to the local grocery store parking lot, the one right on the edge of town, that never fails to impress with its selection. some, like me and robert, have a fake one sitting in their basement all spring and summer long, just waiting to make its grand, glorious debut, raining with lights.


however you obtain your christmas tree, it is special to you and unique to your family. it is undoubtedly a tradition. this weekend, i accompanied my family on a trip that i take every single weekend after thanksgiving.


a trip to the backyard.


behind my parents' house is a little field. in the summer, corn grows tall, and in the winter, the dried, red cobs decorate the ground. it is a little cove, surrounded by trees with a creek bubbling in the back. it is peaceful and secluded, and may very well be the place we one day build our home.


every year since i can remember, my family has trekked a few yards south and chosen our christmas tree from the many that stand proud around the circumference of the field. these are no model trees. they are scraggly and uneven. some don't even have backsides, and we have to carefully position them in the living room corner so you can't tell. one christmas, we picked one that, unbeknownst to us, had poision ivy in its branches. i spent that december with a rash over my eye and from then on, we learned to be a little more careful in our selection.


every time we go on this little adventure, my dad brings along his little handsaw. we'll always have a little lighthearted bickering about which "charlie brown" tree we should pick. they usually end up looking a little like bushes.


our weekend expedition in pictures:

heading out

my brother and his girlfriend. totally in love.

my precious mama and dad

me and my sweet sister

 our selection

carrying it home

one day, i hope to always decorate our little home with a real tree. but if we don't, that's OK too. robert and i will create our own traditions, just as mama and dad created this one for our family. and last night, with pandora set to the "peaceful holidays" channel, and our pajamas on, we decorated our fake tree. like the one we chopped down, it is tiny, misshapen, and a bit sparse. but on it hang ornaments that serve as little mementos of our life together up to now. there's the hot air balloon from our time in albuquerque last fall. the sears tower one from the trip we took to chicago. the "operation christmas child" one we got this weekend when we helped ship shoeboxes overseas.

and i am thankful. that while i can still participate in my family's traditions, the ones that shaped and defined my childhood, i can also create new ones with my little family. years from now, we'll look back at our younger selves, dancing around to carols in our socks, sashaying with pablo in our arms until we fell into a heap on the sofa, and we'll be glad. our love isn't perfect, but like our trees, that's what makes it so special.