I was excited to see people buying their Christmas trees this past weekend. Truth is, Josh and I jumped the gun and went the weekend before Thanksgiving. You could say that it's because we both love Christmas so much but the real answer was practical. We won't be up in the Bay area for another weekend until right before Christmas...and I couldn't wait until then.
Since we are so close to Los Gatos, we decided to brave the outdoors and attempt to find and cut down our own tree. I mean, how many times do you get to do that? After looking on Yelp I realized there were lots of tree farms up here but we settled on the Four Winds Christmas Tree Farm. I was drawn to this one because it wasn't planted in rows like other farms. It was 60 acres of hills and forest and plenty of trees. Seemed more authentic for some reason.
Because we went so early the farm wasn't actually open yet. But when I called, the owner said to just come on up anyway and if he wasn't around to leave the money in this box on the way out. Say what??? He trusted us to just come up and leave money??! It really is a whole new world up here.
See what I mean about authentic? It was beautiful.
Truth is I didn't realize it would be so hard to find a tree. They are not the shaved and perfectly groomed trees I was used to from Home Depot. Josh wanted this one on the right... haha, I used my veto power on that one.
But there were all kinds.
We ran into the owner and he gave us a bit of a Christmas tree education - types, ages, etc. He also taught us that you measure from the top down because you can cut a tree at any height. Leaving room on the bottom helps the tree to re-grow. Here is Josh sawing down the one we chose.
He's laughing because sawing it down was more difficult than we expected.
Usually they have people doing this for you but because they weren't open yet we were on our own. Good thing I had this guy all that for manual labor. :p
Before the unveiling.
And the final result...
His name is Wild Elliott because he was born in the wild, raised in the wild, and IS wild. I mean, look at all those branches sticking out and the gaps! He's even lopsided to the point that I can't cover it up. But despite all his imperfections I love him. I love him because he is who he is and unapologetic about it. And I also love him because he was our very first tree. Welcome to the family Wild Elliott.
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