December 2, 2013

Tree Shopping In North Carolina

We've only chosen a tree from a local lot twice in the last 16 years: the year of the accident and last year because we had just moved into our new home.  This year held the promise of a return to the mountains.  Unfortunately, we have things like jobs and high school to contend with on the calendar.  We knew it would be a quick trip, but it was worth every mile.




We left the flatlands on a nasty rainy evening.  Arriving late, we went straight to bed.  But we awoke to the most splendid gift: a winter wonderland!
We took the kids to downtown West Jefferson and enjoyed the sights. 
Snow in November is a special treat.
The christmas tree farms dot the landscape like my grandmother's patchwork quilt.  The week of Thanksgiving is my favorite week because it is alive with tree farm help.
Massive amounts of trees are tagged, cut, and sorted.  They await their passage to homes throughout the USA.


We discovered a tree farm that usually only sells wholesale, but the farmer makes exceptions for those of us with connections.  And by connections, I mean word-of-mouth friends.
We were the only ones on the whole mountain.  It was truly magical.



Mountains+snow+family+Christmas trees = happy momma

 The ride home was filled with fellow travelers like this:

I'm so thankful for traditions.  I feel grounded.  Nostalgic.  Contented.
Tell me your favorite tradition.  Please!

6 comments:

Jodee said...

What a fun tradition. Cute pictures!

jason and jen said...

I just wanted to tell you that I LOVE reading your blog and catching up with your family! We got our tree at this same farm two years ago. He is SO nice and it was our favorite tree ever!

jason and jen said...

I just wanted to tell you that I LOVE reading your blog and keeping up with your family! We got our tree at this same farm two years ago, it was our favorite tree ever!

Allison said...

This looks so fun! I'm a fellow NC resident, and LOVE reading your blog (and instagram) :) I'm hoping to do something very similar with my boys when they get a little older and we need a Christmas tree... as for now, we stick with an artificial tree because they want to start decorating around the beginning of November. :)

Kimberly said...

Our Tradition every year was to bundle up, go hunting for the perfect tree at a tree farm, cut it down, and take it home to decorate. Now we still go hunting for the perfect tree...but now we wear shorts and flip flops...traipse around the cedar tree farm (which does not hold ornaments well at all)for fun, then stop up front of the tree farm and buy a very expensive pre-cut North Carolina Fraser Fir!!!!! Go Figure!!!

efulk said...

What a wonderful tradition, and how special that it snowed!
~ Erin