The Gimbel Family Christmas Tree

The holidays are one of my favorite times of year, with all of the traditions, festivities and eating and drinking. My family is a sucker for traditions so there are a handful of things we do each and every year to properly celebrate the season including: crab and homemade raviolis on Christmas Eve; buying a new ornaments for the tree; Dad giving us advent calendars to count down the days; and chopping down the Gimbel family Christmas Tree…which for some reason always ends up looking like Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tree.

For as long back as I can remember we have always cut down our own Christmas tree. The adventure begins in the morning with the drive out to the tree farm, laughing about the misfit trees we had gotten in the past; us wandering around the hill in the mud and sometimes rain in search of the perfect tree; each person picking out their favorite tree and the discussions and negotiations that follow; always returning to the first tree we had seen after concluding it was the best; Dad cutting down the tree with Cody’s help while the girls supervisor; the required call of “Sept-timber” to signal the fall of the tree; tying the tree to the car/suburban and now truck; and then deli sandwiches afterwards. This formula has been followed, more or less for the past 20+ years, for better or worse (including the one year I decided to take up smoking the afternoon we were to pick out the tree resulting in me subsequently puked in the toilet because I couldn’t handle it…thankfully I was given the front seat of the car to prevent any additional sickness).

As the years go by the tradition has evolved and slowly adapted. And now that we are of age, it has become a tradition that at least one, if not all of the kids are hung over for the occasion resulting in fewer fights over what tree we get (sometimes you just can’t be bothered, what with a throbbing headache and the spins), but typically less stellar trees …To prove our commitment to traditions, Cody may or may not have been accidentally roofied the night before one outing a few years back but he still managed to pull it together.

So! With the whole family together this past Thanksgiving weekend up at the Lake, we took the opportunity to carry on the tradition and cut down a tree (this time on the top of Hull Mountain, rather than a tree farm). Cody and I awoke Friday morning perfectly hung over from the night before, ready to tackle the mountain to get our tree. We all piled into the pick-up truck, with Dana and Ray, Ray’s parents and approximately 15 other friends and family members in the other 7+ trucks, and made our way up the hill. After the hour long drive on the winding, dirt road, through snow and severe road ruts we reached the top and hopped out to find ourselves with a wide selection of perfect trees, and a whiteout snow storm.

True to form - hung over, cold and tired - Cody, Mom and I found the first decent looking tree and considered the task complete… thankfully Dad, the voice of reason, refused to settle and wandered off to find a more presentable tree. It took about 5 more minutes and less than 20 feet to find it…and before my hands had frozen completely Cody and Dad were on the ground, cutting down our perfect, less Charlie Brown than usual, Christmas tree.

And while we didn’t have the local deli to supply our lunch (the Thanksgiving leftovers did just fine), the Gimbel Family Christmas Tree tradition continues on for one more year.