Christmas Tree Picking: A Holiday Ritual
Every year for as long as I can remember, my family has been driving out to Snickers Gap Tree Farm to cut down a Christmas tree. Some of my earliest memories are racing my brother up the big hill, or waiting for a cup of Hot Cider to warm me up on a cold evening. This year I wanted to document my family during the process of picking the perfect Christmas tree.
Over the years, this tradition has become ritualistic for my family. My mother is always competitive about who will find this year’s tree. It has to be the right height, width, density, and charm. My father is usually in a rush to get in and out before he freezes, or in this year’s case before he missed the England game. As previously mentioned, I usually try to run up the big hill, although it’s gotten significantly harder in recent years.
Although we never look at every tree, we like to see as many options as possible before deciding. Lots of trees have bald spots or top branches unsuitable for our tree-top angel. We usually start at the top and work our way down.
Once we find one that enough of us agree on, we usually leave my dad to keep watch while the rest of us try and look for any last chance options that might be better. We usually don’t though - it should be noted we usually forget to actually go get a tree until it’s too late in the season and the best ones are gone.
When we’ve made our final decision, it’s time to get sawing. My dad always takes it upon himself to get the cut started, then the rest of us take turns trying to get as far as we can.
Once we get the tree down, it’s time to trek it back down the hill to the barn where it gets measured, shake, and wrapped up to come home. This is usually where hot cider enters the mix.
And just like that it’s time to take it home.
I hope you enjoyed this short-form documentary project. I’m going to try and post more of my work in this format. Also sorry for the glowy and soft mages, I am trying out a new lens and left the old filter on which seems to have a misting effect. Anyways, thanks for reading!