My First Real Christmas Tree

48 years, and as best I can remember, we've always done the artificial Christmas tree...I remember many growing up, multiple shades of green & blue, a few silver ones, and I vaguely remember a foldable aluminum work of art that gave shocks when you got too close.

But here in our small apartment with no garage and no storage space for the off-season, the real green took hold...Environmentally it's probably a sound, natural recylable choice compared to its vinyl counter parts. I am though a bit concerned over the many kilowatts of power I see our vacuum cleaner putting out as it tries to keep the pine needle urban sprawl under control...

The process began this morning when friend and co-worker Doug and I picked up our Mobility Cargo Van and headed out to hunt for nice fresh Sapins (pine trees) for each of our homes. We found a nice selection at the local Supermarket about 1 mile away and went about picking our trees.

I've never price haggled in Switzerland, land of rules and regulations that I'm sure prohibits this type of behaviour, but the trees did not have prices on them. So I asked, "how much are they?" "Oh, that depends on the tree...."

I replied that I could have guessed the same with trees ranging in size from 3 inches to 30 feet....

So to start the process I pointed to a 5 foot tree. It was pretty in its own way though not too much better than the old Charlie Brown classic...She answered oh...that's 100 francs (about $85)...I got the impression that that was her answer to the first question, regardless of the tree, so I responded "Oh no that's way too much for me! What do you have for 60 francs?" She pointed out a group of smaller 4 foot trees. So Doug and I went over there but slowly found ourselves wandering towards bigger and bigger trees until we were surrounded by 6 footers...We each found one and said "We'll take these..." We then got the "iiiiiiiiihhhhhghhhghhhh" sound. In french this sound is made by making a grimace and then sucking in air through the sides of your mouth...

After some reflection and another drawn out iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhh sound she finally opened her mouth responded with real vowels and consonants.... "How about 70 francs?" ....and the deal was set!

So with the hunting done, Doug and I triumphantly returned to our homes. I will treasure my welcome, for years to come.. "Ohhhhhhhh, that's nice Dave! You did well. I love it!!!!

Cheers, Dave