Way back when Christmas trees were free for the taking for country folk we started the process of finding one as early as late October during the great chinquapin and hickory nut hunts.
This time wasn't for the cutting down and dragging home the tree, but for finding and deciding.
On an Indian Summer Sunday afternoon we went into the woods as a group of free range kids. Before the hunt clubs had put up gates across roads and Keep Out notices nailed about we stalked the time worn trails towards the branches and creeks to where we knew the best crops of those precious nuts would be found. Down in the lower reaches were special trees of hickory nuts.
" That 'un over there done been hit by the squirrels".
" Yep, just hulls now".
"Okay, the best chinquapin is on that old fence row in Godwin Bottom".
"Lets go"!
And so it went.................
We rambled, we clawed off burrs, chewed out chinquapin from hulls to enjoy those tasty little jewels.
Everybody carried a brown paper grocery bag for hauling. Hickory nut bags filled pretty soon due to the absence of a hammer or brick for cracking 'em. That would be a job for back home.
Grandma Minnie Smith loved hickory nut meat for her Christmas cake. Chinquapin meat usually didn't make it to Christmas.
In all the fun of stalking the nuts, our main focus was on looking for the perfect cedar tree for staking out for Christmas.
Once a cedar was spotted we all broke into a run to look, walk around, argue the shape and hight. Once the tree was judged acceptable we pressed on to find another choice.
"Somebody gonna beat us to it if we mess around too long".
"Well Mama ain't gon let us put it up too early, cause it'el dry out and turn brown".
"Yeah, I hate a brown Christmas tree".
"Miz. Stella's tree caught fire one time in Feburary".
" Well, Miz. Stella ain't been no ball of fire in gettng her tree down............ever".
" Daddy said it scorched the tar out of the walls before they got that fire put out".
" Bet that thang made sparks and popped like firecrackers".
" Heck yes, cedar is full of pitch".
" It sat right next to the fireplace so all the sparks had to do was light on that dried out old tree".
Huh??
" Bet Miz Stella took it down on New Year next time".
" Yep "!
"Come on, we gotta find some holly with berries, Mama likes that for decorations".
"Poley Branch is full of holly".
"Hurry up y'all".
The sun slanted on our hunts to drive us towards home. Several choices of pretty cedars waited for the days just at the edge of Christmas for us to go back to hacksaw one down, hack off some red berry holly and fuss amongst ourselves over who had to drag the gleenings home.
We worked hard to get the tree standing upright and secured on a plank stand or in a bucket of sand.
Mama brought out our store bought ornaments of beautiful colored balls, garlands of twisted faded crepe paper and icicles clumped into broken pieces.
Each year those decorations seemed to age out.
We added things that we had made in school to pretty up our tree.
Stars made from dried flour paste bent the limbs.
Our tree took several months of planning, but it as always so beautiful.
I sit here remembering the fun of that time. I can close my eyes and smell that wonderful fresh cut cedar tree, feel the thorns of the holly boughs with cedar rash on my arms as If it were just today.
I can smell the icing for Mama's special Christmas cake being boiled.
We named it ,
" Mama's apple and orange cake".
Mama baked cakes and pies that sat waiting in the pie safe. A wooden box of Washington Delicious apples and bags of oranges from Lake Wells, Florida along with bags of candy, dried fruits, and assorted nuts waited.
Mama was viligent in keeping us out of all those wonderful things until Christmas morning.
We snooped and shared information. Anticipation of what we would claim from under our Christmas tree was almost too much to bear.
We never had wrapped presents under our tree before Christmas morning. That was the job for Santa Claus.
The fire reflected off those icicles while we stared into the flames, we listened to Gene Autrey sing, " Rudolph The Red Nosed Raindeer" through the static of our old radio and wondered about that song as we waited for the magic of our Christmas tree.
Now in my old age I enjoy the memory of those times. That is really the magic .........................those sweet memories.
No Christmas tree in my adult life has ever brought the same feeling of joy that those little Christmas trees from my childhood did.
"OH CHRISTMAS TREE, OF ALL THE TREES MOST LOVELY"
