The Christmas Tree Lot

These lots spring up through out all the cities this time of year--you come to one of these to search out just the right tree! Everytime I see a group of Christmas trees I feel bad that we bought an artificial tree a few years back, as it's just not the same! Choosing the right tree is a real art!
My mom's parents favored a Balsam fir, so my mom, in turn, always bought a Balsam as well. They're native to Wisconsin & are a truly superb tree--a really lovely shade of green, they hold their needles really well, & best of all they're extremely fragrant---the whole house would smell like evergreens!
My dad's parents, on the other hand, favored the White Pine. It was a much less dense looking tree---more wispy looking with long, long needles. Not as good for hanging ornaments to my mind, but when I see one it always brings back great memories of my childhood!
The first time I lived on my own after I graduated from college, I took this hunt for the perfect tree very seriously! Should I go with tradition & get the Balsam fir? My grandma said I couldn't go wrong with a Pine tree.....2 of my brothers would always go out in the woods & cut their own--they swore that was the best way to choose one...
Then about 3 weeks before Christmas one of my friends invited me to go with her out to Connecticut to visit her brother & his family for a week. After we'd gotten there, they invited us to come along with them to pick out their tree. It was truly magical!
The lot there was huge, with path after path of freshly cut trees all lined up--trees of every height & type imaginable. Their 2 children were excitedly running up & down the paths pointing out trees they liked! It was one of those beautiful crisp,clear nights that, although cold, is not the least bit uncomfortable. There was Christmas music playing & then the snow started to fall--not the heavy, wet driving kind of snow, but the soft, fat, fluffy kind that covers everything & makes it so incredibly lovely. And that's where I discovered the Frasier Fir! What a beauty! Fragrant, thick, holds it's needles well, & to my eye, much prettier than the Balsams! When I returned home I searched high & low for a lot that had Frasier firs, & finally found one that sold them. Even after Tom & I were married, I still went there year after year to buy the perfect tree! Eventually the cost of the Frasiers' became so exorbitant that we went to an artificial tree, but each year when the lots open, I'm sorely tempted to leave the box up in the attic & go buy ourselves a wonderful Frasier! :)