🎄 The Tree 🎄**
Ahh, the tree. Nothing brings more nostalgia to the Christmas season than picking the perfect one. Whether it was choosing a Douglas fir from the sketchy lot behind the auto parts store or wandering around Lowe’s staring at plastic, pre-lit abominations, picking and decorating the Christmas tree was always one of the best parts of the year.
Outside of what I learned from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (the TBS version, of course), the idea of actually going to a tree farm and cutting one down myself was completely foreign until my early 30s.
The first time I experienced it was in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, visiting friends who had recently moved there. We were on our way to Tennessee and stopped in for the day. They took us with their family to Thomley’s Christmas Tree Farm to cut the tree they had already picked and tagged.
This concept absolutely blew my mind.
On our way back from Tennessee, we had to stop back at Thomley’s and get a tree of our own. And ever since, it’s become a family tradition to find a tree farm right after Thanksgiving and cut our own. Because we often travel for Thanksgiving, this little tradition has taken us all over the southern U.S.—Thomley’s in Mississippi; Fish River Trees in Robertsdale, Alabama; spots in Birmingham, Abbeville, and Natchitoches; and our most frequent stop, Yawn Station in Independence, Louisiana.
Even as the kids get older, they still enjoy the process—just different parts of it. They each take a turn helping cut the tree, and they always love browsing the little gift shops most farms have, picking out an ornament to hang.
Our favorite tree is the Carolina Sapphire—a cypress with silver-blue foliage and a distinct, incredible aroma. A few times we’ve bought potted trees (one time we even had to dig it out of the ground ourselves!) and tried planting them afterward. We now have a nice 15-footer growing in our backyard… though several others, uh, did not share its success story.
Drop a comment and tell me:
What’s your favorite Christmas tree? And do you have a go-to spot for picking yours?
Ramblings from That Guy 
I really like the Fraser fir. But lately we trek up into the attic and carry our tree to the living room!
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