This is the time of the year to put up the Christmas tree. Of course, who doesn’t like a fresh cut one? Wally was no different. He made the arrangements of getting permission from the land owner before hand.

On the chosen day, he took a length of rope, an axe, and a pruning saw, and put them all in the trunk of our ’52 Plymouth sedan. We drove up Secrest and over towards the Boy Scout Camp grounds. About half a mile west of the camp grounds, Wally pulled over as far as he dared and stopped the car. He took out the axe and the pruning saw.

The snow was about knee deep that year but we were ready for it.

We began our search for the perfect tree. We looked at half a dozen here and there but there was always some imperfection. Wally was looking around and spied the perfect looking tree. The only trouble was, it was at the top of a 50 foot fir tree. Since the tree was standing by itself, it had produced vast quantities of limbs all around it. Wally handed me the axe and fought his way in to the base of the tree. I don’t remember any cussing but I’m sure he did a lot of muttering.

Finally, he began to scale the tree. For a man with a bum leg, he didn’t waste any time climbing. When he got close to the top he called to me and asked if he was high enough, I said,” higher”. I’m not sure that was what he wanted to hear, but he went a little higher anyways.
He hauled out his pruning saw and began to cut. The process did not take long for the saw was sharp. The top teetered and with a little push tumbled to the ground. As Wally returned to terra firma, I looked at the top. Oh, oh, there are some imperfections. He came over and looked upon his prize and said, “good enough”.

Together, we dragged the tree to the car and placed it in the trunk. Wally tied it down with the rope, and we returned home.

The imperfections were filled with wired in branches which made the tree look perfect. Wally attached the stand and we put the tree near the fire place in the corner of the living room, and the spruce aroma began to fill the room. Later, Wally would light the fire place while Auntie Kay and I would decorate the tree. Once finished decorating, we would drink hot chocolate and rehash the days events with the apple wood fire sizzling in the fire place.