Christmas Season Memories

By Emily Doyle

My favorite holiday song has always been Silver Bells because it describes the experience of “Christmastime in the city.” I grew up in New York and each year my family took the train into New York City to see the famous Rockefeller Tree, brave bustling streets to do our shopping, and if we were lucky, stop for treats like hot dogs and cocoa from street vendors. To me, the holiday season was very tied to the city experience—but that all changed as I got older and began to appreciate Christmas on a farm.  

My husband grew up in a rural area where his parents ran a Christmas tree farm. Each year, between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, they opened their outdoor shop and began selling trees. Customers came from many miles around (some crossing US state lines!) to walk through the tree fields and have the experience of finding and chopping down their own tree. They have since retired from selling trees, but the warm memories remain strong.  

There is something magical about walking through crunchy, snowy fields and searching for the perfect tree. The perfect tree means something different for everyone. Some say that the perfect tree is one that will fit well in the room we’ve assigned to it, others might say that the perfect tree is full and bushy—but I say that the perfect tree is the one that makes you smile when you see it and fills the house with the smell of pine!  

I am very fortunate that I have been able to spend the December holidays in magical places, including big cities and wide-open Christmas tree farms!  

Head to our instagram and send us a message about what holidays do you celebrate in December? Where do you spend them? What are your traditions and memories?