It was tradition. Every year, we would drive out to the bush a few hours out of Calgary and find the best Canadian Christmas tree from the Boy Scouts Christmas tree lot. These were typically pine trees that grow pervasively in the area. The trees were naturally gown, not planted, so they were interspersed with spruce trees and grew in groups.
We got out of the truck and stepped out into the snowy parking lot. My dad always liked to remind me that when dealing with the Canadian cold, it was not a fashion show, and as a result I was bundled up in warm, but not so pretty, winter boots and mittens and a touque (wool hat). I could smell the hot chocolate and hotdogs cooking over the campfire as we started into the woods with our axe and hand saw.
The snow was deep and almost up to my knees. It was a challenge for me to keep up with my older brother and dad, who wouldn’t have found the snow nearly as hard to get through. We trudged through the front of the lot, hunting for the perfect Christmas Tree. The front of the lot was always picked clean of the good trees. But what makes a good Christmas Tree? Or rather, what makes the best Canadian Christmas tree?
When hunting for the best Canadian Christmas tree in the bush, there are a few things to look for. First, it has to be pine and not spruce in the area we went because the spruce do not grow as prevalent so they were protected.
Second, it is important to look for a ‘full’ tree, one with lots of branches. Frankly, natural pine trees all look like “Charlie Brown Christmas Trees,” with large gaping holes and fairly few branches, so really the goal is to minimize this issue. It is also important to make sure it is just one tree.
Sometimes from 20 feet back it looks like you found the perfect tree, full of branches and with a great single stem top for the angel, until you get up close and realize it is 3 trees all grown right next to each other. As only one tree can sit in the tree stand, the tree needs to look good standing on its own. And when they grow this close to one another, they usually have whole sides of the tree that don’t have branches.
The third things to look for is a single brand at the top of the tree. This is important for the star or angel or Santa Claus that sits on the top of the tree. If the tree forks at the top, it is hard to have the tree topper sitting straight.
Lastly you want a tree that is a good size for your living room, not too big or not too small. What ends up happening is the “Goldilocks Dilemma” as I call it, where they are usually a little too big, too small, too few branches…. Usually until you trudge to the back of the tree lot where you find the untouched snow and untouched trees.
It is a beautiful experience with only the crunch sound of the snow under your feet and laughing kids in the background. Most of the forest is in hibernation for the winter. The fresh snow and pine tree scent is invigorating, clean and earthy. There are no phones to break the perfect nature experience (as there is no signal in the area) and it is a couple of hours of hiking through the forest and reconnecting with the wild. Or depending on how cold it is, that reconnection might run a bit shorter and the tree be a bit less perfect so you can rush back to get some hot chocolate and hot dogs.
Each year we would find a tree, and often we would pick ones out for friends back in town. My brother and I would usually get to chop it down ourselves with the axe or hand saw. And then we would also get to drag it back to the truck, and my dad would tie it down (I guess that was too much of a safety issue to leave to us kids lol.) But as a kid, the best part was the hotdogs and hot chocolate after all that hiking.
Once we were back on the road, we would usually drive through this little town that hand a pie shop and stop in for pie. The cinnamon and cloves in the apple pie, combined with the fresh air and woods were the first signs of the Christmas to come.
The fresh pine smell would fill the house and the closer we got to Christmas, the more the scent of baked goods would combine and create this beautiful mixture of fresh woody scents and spicy cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg that was iconic for a winter-y white Christmas.
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