The Christmas tree business

Living on a tree farm is an awesome thing. And our tree farm was pretty spectacular complete with horses and wagons (and sometimes the sleigh!) and the quaint little log house filled with Grandma Betty's hand-dipped chocolates and mugs of hot cocoa and a roaring fire in the fireplace .

I remember the first year we sold Christmas trees. We didn’t have the log cabin in place yet and besides we had very few trees that were big enough so we sold them out of our garage. This was definitely a learn-as-you-go venture. 

It didn’t take long to get caught up in the excitement - watching people choose their tree and tie it on top of their car and head down the driveway. As one dad was securing the tree and Mom was loading the kids in the car, their little guy stopped and turned around to tell me, “THANK YOU for our Christmas tree!!!” His joy gave me a teeny peak into how fun the Christmas tree business might be.

By the next year there were lots of boys around - some young boys and a bunch of bigger boys working the tree lot and the fields.  Lots and lots of boys through the years. Mike and Mike and Tim and Jeff and Jeff… and Ricky and Ben and Sam... and a whole lot more.

By then we had acquired and moved the old log cabin to the farm and we had put in many late nights restoring it to be our sales office, the face of the tree farm. That was when things got really exciting!

That first opening weekend was indeed grand. Lots of people showed up and lots of horses, too.

There were the teams that we had arranged to pull wagons and give free rides around the farm and there was also a large group of local riders that came for an outing from a nearby town. This outing became an annual tradition for them and for us. Interestingly enough one of those riders from the early days is now the owner of the farm.

Our “horse people” were a great asset to the tree farm. Our main driver, Grandpa Ed, could take people exactly where they needed to be to find the tree they wanted and then swing by awhile later to pick them up with their freshly-cut tree. 

We had a phenomenal crew. Our daughters and our parents all helped in various roles during those early years - as well as those boys mentioned above. Some of these guys grew up with us through the twenty years that we sold trees. For example, in the early years the three Whitson boys were just little tikes excited to ride in the horse-drawn wagon - and then eventually ended up working on the farm once they got bigger. And there was Sam who was barely in school when he and his parents appeared on TV from the tree farm. Dick Fabian came from WNEM-TV5 to do a story for their Take5 program and filmed Sam and his dad cutting down a Christmas tree. Sam kept coming to the tree farm through the years and eventually he became part of the crew.

There were families and there were traditions. Bob’s siblings wanted to be part of the festivities so they started a tradition of gathering in the wreath shed on opening day to make wreaths together. Who can forget the battery-operated lighted wreath that Ron made for the front of his car!

There were friends who came home from college with our girls. First from Bethel College with Stacy and then Angie. Then from North Park University with Wendi. And then there were the Moody boys.

There were students from around the world - some who lived with us for a year and some who visited for a weekend. Matthieu from France, Eugene from Russia, Priscilla from Costa Rica, Juliana from Colombia - as well as Jo from Finland, Cheng from China, Yukka from Japan… There was a large Lebanese family from down-state who came every year. Wonderful fascinating people converging on a lovely Christmasy spot.

There were field trips.

There were crafts and crafters.

There were singers. When our friends who formed the folk music group Living Truth came to get their Christmas tree, of course they serenaded all of the other customers with beautiful Christmas music.

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Year after year people kept coming back - driving from as far as Detroit to get their tree. Actually some of our trees went out of state - to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, South Dakota and Virginia… 

There was lots of fun and lots of hard work. Certainly the fun exciting days outnumbered the difficult ones but there still came a point when the time was right to close down the farm. We set up a self-service system and sold trees by appointment - mostly to friends and neighbors - for a few more years. And now we've sold the farm.

After 25 years of Hidden Hollows Christmas tree memories, this year is quite different. Oldest daughter and hubby had earlier followed the tradition of planting Christmas trees in their back yard, so they have been harvesting their own for a couple years now. Middle daughter is starting new traditions with her young family - exploring their new neighborhood to find a Christmas tree somewhere else. *sniff* Youngest daughter can’t have a real tree in her apartment - for maybe the first time ever. And this is our first year without one as well. No wonder we are feeling a little nostalgic! *sniff, sniff*

In fact, when we see cars with trees on top coming from the tree farm near our current home, we sort of feel left out. I guess we feel a bit of a vacuum where the excitement of the Christmas tree business once was. 

Are we sorry about our decision?  Do we wish we had stayed at the farm?

Nope. Because while there are lots of things that we miss, there are a whole bunch of things that we DON’T miss!!! Things that makes us tired just thinking about them. Things that we are no longer able to do.

But best of all is the freedom that we have - now that we are no longer tied down to the tree farm!

• Tied down to the schedule - when we were too busy and too tired to do much of any holiday activity.
• Tied down to the work - both hard physical labor and lots of time-consuming mental work.
• Tied down to the place with all of the maintenance and repair of several buildings as well as the trees and the grounds.
• Tied down financially. That’s the biggie. We are now free to do other things. To spend our money in other ways.

There are always trade-offs. Pros and cons.

Life is simpler now. Less restricted.

We are quite happy with our decision to sell the farm and live on the road. 

Time marches on. We make changes and tough decisions. Life brings joy and loss. Even good changes carry pain. But I'm learning that I don't need to hide from the pain and loss. To the contrary, as I take time to feel it, I am actually choosing to honor and cherish the beauty of those wonderful years.

So when Mariah Carey starts to sing “I miss you most at Christmas time” and I sing along, this year I might not be singing to a person. Instead I may be addressing that magical time and place. It is a conscious decision to embrace the sadness as well as the joy of the amazingly awesome memories from our life on the Christmas tree farm.

November 24: a significant date

A significant date it is.

I’ve always been a sucker for significant dates. 

I like to notice and I like to remember.

One year ago today we sold the farm. One year ago. After several years of downsizing and a couple years of having the place up for sale, this was our closing date. We closed the deal and we closed this amazing chapter of our lives. Significant indeed.

Two years ago today (2013) I wrote a guest post on Bob’s blog. This one shows a different kind of closure after finding ourselves outside the world where we had lived and worked for our entire lives. HUGE changes have transpired as a result of that shift. Significant changes were noticed.

Three years ago (2012) I was feeling thankful to have indoor plumbing including washer and dryer after a few months of hauling clothes to the laundromat. Significant adjustments had begun.

Four years ago (2011) I listed a few of the things I was feeling thankful for:

That I am excited about the future with all of its question marks
That I get to travel this road with the most amazing man as my partner
That I am feeling freer these days
That I am getting healthier by the year
That guilt is gradually giving way to grace as my default setting
That I/we have had the luxury of time for the recovery process
That I now celebrate diversity instead of fearing it

Significant growth. Significant gratitude.

Yes, this date has been significant in my recent journey.

Yes, I am feeling thankful!

Fridge, bed and shower: the measure of a home

Gotta’ love a fridge that has enough space to freeze ice cubes.

And is big enough to fit a pizza box!

...
Trade-offs. 

There will always be trade-offs.
...

Ever since we moved out of the big house, we’ve been dealing with trade-offs. First there was the little tiny bunkhouse where we were able to have our big fridge, but had to step outside to the camper for showers or to the Porta-John for other business. Yah, that would only work in warm weather.

Then there was the log house - with a real bathroom but a tiny shower. 

Interestingly enough, in both of those places we were able to have the luxury of a king-size bed.

Next came the RV with the inevitable cramped quarters. That bed is NOT king-sized and has barely enough room to walk around it to change the sheets. The fridge is not bad for a camper, but not big enough to fit in a pizza box. I don’t even bother trying to make ice cubes there. But the shower is good. Nice-sized and actually pretty convenient. What a blessing! In fact, I realize that all other showers may now be compared to that one.

Now for the next couple months we are in a  two-bedroom furnished apartment. That’s right; TWO bedrooms! That means that we get to host overnight guests - if they like twin beds.  

There’s enough room for Bob to have his piano set up without us tripping over it. I am so happy to be able to spread out a bit and have some space for this next phase of sorting and pitching and packing. 




Plus I get to have my own writing spot. A real desk even.

But what really amazes me is the HUGE fridge. Yes, it’s big enough for an entire pizza box - or even a couple of them.  And yes, I can make ice cubes now - FOUR trays at once. That’s fun. 

We are very thankful for this place and this time. 

...

Then again, it does have the smallest bed we've ever shared. 
And I do miss my shower…

Reading Books

Yesterday I visited Reading Books. Yes, that's the name of a funky little bookstore here in Rockford which resides partly in a couple railroad cars from the 1920s and partly in a little building beside the old railroad track. Rare, used and out-of-print books fill this little shop to overflowing.

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Their promo bookmark says:

Take a ride on the READING for an express trip to anywhere!

We sell dreams, romance, confidence and peace of mind. 

Ride the range, slay a dragon, bake a cake, solve a murder! 

It’s all possible when you take a ride on The Reading!

…

Resident cats, Zelda and Dickens, wander through the narrow aisles between the stacks of books from one room to the next.  Up a few steps into the train cars are rows and rows of fiction titles. 

When I asked the owner whether she is accepting more books, she pointed out the dozens of full boxes waiting to be shelved. Oh, my; what an overwhelming task. I sort of want to get a little souvenir from here, but I have my own dozen boxes of books sitting in storage that I must get rid of. Wandering through this labyrinth, this over-abundance of printed material, triggered various thoughts and emotions within me. At first I found myself thinking that I should not be a writer. That no one should be a writer - because there are already too many books in the world. I quickly realized how silly that is. Then I found myself thinking of how difficult it is to market books in this age of so many books and so few readers. Such a glut…

I tried to picture my name on the spine of one or some of these books and it seemed like a drop in an ocean. I asked myself why I even write and whether there would ever be a need for my writings. Then I reminded myself that I write for me and for a few people. I try to write what I need to read. Maybe someday I will decide that I need to concern myself with marketing what I write, but not yet. Not today. 

Today I write. 

Today I live life so that I have something to write about.