And Another Tree Falls...

In our family, the Christmas tree was always a BIG tradition. Each year, my mother would go out in search of the largest tree that would fit in our house. Well, it usually fit, although Christmas was not Christmas without my parents having one fight over the size of the tree! There was also the time that the tree was so big it fell on my mother in the living room while she was decorating it one night. I should mention it is only funny because she and the tree escaped without injury. No one could account for all the difficulties getting it into the house and standing, but we could all guarantee that it would be meticulously decorated in lights and ornaments from our childhood and it would be perfect. Perhaps the fact that the Christmas tree is so ingrained in my roots and Christmas traditions that I was so excited when I heard that the Rockefeller Christmas tree would hail from my home town this year.

In the past few weeks, New Jersey is no stranger to the sound of chainsaws and trees coming down. Currently living close to the shore and close proximity to such devastation, perhaps that is another reason that seeing a tree being cut down with a purpose was so important to me. This tree was not just going to fall on a power line, or worse, someone’s home. This tree would not fall in vein. This 80 foot tall pine tree will go on to be the world’s most famous Christmas tree and it will be the tree that came from Flanders, New Jersey.

Since the tree was cut down, I have heard people say “So what it is just a tree,” or even others complain “Now it is just another dead tree.” Believe me, I would have volunteered the 70 foot pine tree that continues to lie in my backyard as a reminder of Sandy! Either way, no matter how people feel, there was not one person at the tree cutting ceremony who was not smiling. Despite the cold rain that fell and the constantly dropping temperatures, we all stood there and watched as this tree was placed on the truck. For those couple minutes, every person who was there forgot about their damaged roofs or water logged basements. Each person watched in awe as the big tree from a small town went on to be the 80th Rockefeller Christmas tree in New York City.