how noble is your fir?
It is finally December. I am pretty big on Christmastime, as anyone who knows me could argue, so as soon as Thanksgiving is over I immediately switch gears from fall and food to snow, lights and evergreens. It’s a good thing my wife feels the same way. This post is all about our Christmas tree. Yes, the tree by itself is not the true reason for the season, but it does well to fill your home with the holiday spirit. On Saturday T and I drove up near Van Alstyne, Texas (about an hour north of downtown) to Wintergreen Farm. It has been quite a while since either of us remember having a live Christmas tree, and this being our very first Christmas season as a married couple, we decided to go all-out.
The tree farm was really fun. It was a nice scenic drive into the hills and through the quaint town of Van Alstyne – not to mention the weather was perfect! I was really unsure of what to expect. Upon arriving, we were greeted by rows and rows of trees, and although they were nice, they were more pine-tree-esque. We were really looking for more of a fir tree. But when we drove to the back of the property, we parked and found many other varieties waiting to be chosen.
It took our perfectionist minds a little while to decide which tree would best suit our loft. There were all sorts of fir species, and of all different shapes and hue but eventually we decided on a beautiful, nine-foot noble fir. He was pretty much perfectly shaped and was full of branches throughout.
It seemed as though Van Alstyne’s high school football team was the hired help when it came to prepping the trees for travel. We had them trim the trunk an inch so as to have a fresh cut, ready for soaking up water. Then they carted it off to this strange machine – a “tree shaker” that shook the tree in all directions to remove any extra needles or loose limbs. Afterward they squeezed it through a ring with a net and loaded it on the truck (borrowed from our friend – thanks, Andy).
So as you can guess, we were both ecstatic – we found the perfect tree. Once we brought it inside however, we discovered that the stand we purchased was too small for the trunk. It was a whopping six inches in diameter. So we went over to the farmer’s market and bought one of their stands. Anyone in need of a tree stand?
Now for the lighting. I am the self-proclaimed, most fantastic Christmas tree-lighter in the land and I go on tour next week. I pride myself on stringing hundreds of lights on an unsuspecting tree in a very attractive manner each year, and this was going to be no different. Or so I thought. It was actually a good challenge for me working with a live-Christmas tree. Artificial trees are much more flexible – being able to bend and turn branches to your liking, making sure the strands of lights are secure and evenly distributed. Our noble fir was a little stubborn in the way he behaved but I think I managed to do a swell job anyway. It always brings back the memories of Christmas years before, decorating the tree. It is one of my favorite traditions.
As for the ornaments, because neither T or I came with any in our new marriage, we had the unique opportunity to try out a whole new look this first year. We decided to simply use glass ball ornaments, in shades of silver, going minimalist. There were four different colors in two sizes and we were very happy with the result.
One nine-foot tree, twelve-hundred lights and 95 94 ornaments later (one sad shiny one met its doom with our unforgiving concrete floor) later, we have a sparkling super Christmas tree. I think our noble fir is happy in it’s new home and wardrobe.
We also thought it would be fun to shoot a stop-animation clip of the decorating process.
Click here too see the animation.
Thanks for reading and seeing the first in what will hopefully be a few posts on what we call An Urban Christmas. T & I hope this Christmas season will fill you with joy, happiness and hope for the best that is to come. Have a great week.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:11 AM
Your tree looks amazing! Very simple and cheery…I kept watching your red candle holders in the background of your stop animation; they move a little bit in almost every picture, haha.
December 1st, 2009 at 8:13 PM
After trekking across the lands and searching through the fields of assorted Christmas trees, you didn’t give your tree a *name*?! I am aghast. AGHAST, I tell you!
–flails aghastly–
Normally I would let this slight slide, but you went so far as to refer to your tree–repeatedly–with masculine pronouns. Thus, I must wave my finger at you for your carelessness and (dare I say) crass behavior regarding the anonymity of your gorgeous Christmas tree, which SHOULD be that much more special because it is the first tree of your marriage as well as your first tree in your own home. SHAME ON YOU. SHAME SHAME SHAME. How can you look at your tree without feeling his sorrow, his disappointment, nay, his denial of all that he has ever wanted in his brief Christmas-centered existence? All this for YOUR enjoyment and festivities. HOW DARE YOU, SIR.
I think he should be named “Nole” as an homage for his unwavering nobility IN SPITE of his life unto this point as a nameless tree. Did he ever break formation? Did he ever lower his top branch in self-pity? Did he do anything other than stand up tall underneath the burden (both physical and metaphorical) of 1200 twinkle lights and 94 glass ball ornaments? NO HE DID NOT.
If I were Nole, I would spit sap all over your skinny ties. Fortunately for you, however, Nole the noble fir tree is far more noble than I.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:09 PM
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your tree! It is perfect for your space! 1200 lights? I’m no tree expert but that’s a lot of lights! Your tree looks happy and i’m sure enjoying “his” new home…I kinda like the name Nole!
PS – Great animation!
December 1st, 2009 at 11:25 PM
love the animation… watch how much it sheds. great photos… we can’t wait to set up our tree! see you tomorrow.
hope T is feeling better.
-A+B+e
December 19th, 2011 at 5:01 AM
[...] tree time. We have had natural trees for Christmas the past two years (see previous blog posts of 2009, 2010) but paid an incredible amount of money for them as the noble and fraser fir trees were [...]