Greenbluff Trees

After our wonderful experience gathering pumpkins at Greenbluff, we decided to return for a live Christmas tree. We found quite a variety at a little place called Hansen's. When we arrived, an attendant greeted us at the gate and said that every tree costs $50, regardless of size. With this in mind, the kids decided to select a tree that goes beyond our normal limit. Since cost is no issue, they reasoned that they might as well go big.

We trudged through two feet of snow and finally found the perfect tree. Actually, Whitney made the final selection. As expected, she picked one of the largest trees in the lot. It was also the farthest away, meaning that someone would have to drag that thing out of there. Of course by 'someone,' she meant Dakota and me.

In this photograph, Dakota is planning the best way to expose the trunk for cutting.

Dakota and I took turns cutting the tree. The base was so wide that we had to lie on our bellies in the snow and crawl halfway underneath the lower branches.

We took turns cutting the tree, and we also took turns resting. During one of my breaks, I happened to notice a visitor on a nearby tree top.

In the end, the tree must have weighed a hundred pounds or more. Dakota and I had to drag that thing over a hundred yards in more than two feet of snow. It was hard to get good footing, so we constantly slipped and fell. More than once the tree even rolled over the top of either Dakota and me.

Dakota and I struggled and heaved to drag that tree while the girls stood by watching. At one point, McKenna said, "Can you guys hurry up?"

Whitney chimed in, "Yeah, old man, don't be such a wimp!" With sweat dripping down my face and freezing to my eyebrows, I was in no mood to appreciate their bossiness, but later we all laughed about it.

After we dragged our tree out of the field, a couple of guys from the farm helped us load the tree onto my truck. We paid our $50 in a little red house by the road, and then they gave us free hot chocolate and apple cider, as well as a free Christmas ornament. What a fun day!