I would go out during the Christmas holiday to tag and cut down trees, and haul them to a trailer. We would load them, then unload them at a property we would rent for the purpose of a Christmas tree lot. I found this work exciting and fun. I looked forward to the cold nights running back and forth, bringing trees to one spot, then the next. We set up the lots after it was time, running the racks, building them to hold rows of trees and hold lights. We put sawdust on the ground so it did not get muddy or dirty. Showing trees to customers, prepping trees for Christmas stands, helping load the trees, sharing in the experience of the joy they were having to pick out and pick up their family tree.
My granddad was a good man, a legit hustler, and loved to go hunting, work on cars, do landscaping as his way to pay bills and raise another man’s children and take care of his woman and wife.
From a young age I was taught, or more pointedly, shown how to work. I would clean flower beds by picking weeds out of the ground and picking up branches after trees were trimmed, or shrubs. Cleaning up leaves with rakes, or grass after the yards were mowed. I would learn to shovel gravel or dirt or bark dust, rake gravel.
I loved working the Christmas tree lots. I loved selling as many trees as people would buy. I just love the experience of happiness at that time of year. I love the Christmas holiday and that time of year. I like the cold. I love the snow and how it slows everything down. It makes people appreciate each other. It is a time we think of what is most important to us. We see clearer what is right in front of us, appreciate a smile, a gesture, a look, a figure, a gift. I call them signs. They make us aware of important meaning, take notice of the small things that matter most that get overlooked or put last instead of first. The small things hold together the bigger ones, same as an engine for a car. I appreciate family, which starts traditions and love.
