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A Good One...

Here we are in another holiday season; I know this because yesterday we went on our annual family trek to find the perfect Christmas tree. I wrote about my annual tree-cutting tradition in the December 2001 edition of this newsletter. For those of you who missed it, the story involves my long-standing ambition to venture into the woods, find, fell and retrieve the perfect tree. I readily admit, long ago, this quest involved the hacking of shrubs, bushes, and trees along with a certain amount of (harmless) trespassing…okay, outright larceny. But not to worry, those days were long ago; I have since settled down, married and become a father. The tree expeditions are now strictly on the up-and-up and conducted where they belong: safely on a tree farm.

This year the story took a new and different twist. It started as always, with the family climbing into our Sport Utility Vehicle and driving off to Alexander’s Tree Farm while singing along to a Christmas CD. We arrived at Alexander’s with John Lennon’s Happy Christmas playing. We were greeted as usual and the proprietor handed me a small tree saw along with a map showing where we could find various species of trees. The first surprise was that my 12-year-old daughter Aran announced she wanted to cut down the tree this year. She proudly took up the saw and we all trouped off into Alexanders’ deep forest of pines.

The map would have been helpful if I knew one type of pine tree from another, but as has been proven in the past, I really don’t know a tree from a shrub (again, see December 2001 Edition). Thus, we walked aimlessly through the trees and blowing snow with one family member after another calling out that they “Found one!”, - No, “I found one!” – “No, I found one!” until we finally settled on the “perfect” tree. This happened none too soon, as even though we dressed everyone for the cold, the now howling wind developed a serious bite.

Aran went straight at it, diving under the tree and beginning to saw. After a long while of holding the tree (and leaning into the wind) I gently asked whether she needed any help. She answered “no” because she was already a quarter of the way through. I shrugged and pulled my collar up against the wind. While I was standing there freezing, Lennon’s melancholy lyric played in my head. “So this is Christmas, And what have you done, Another year over, And a new one just begun”. After a very long while Aran’s elbow grease prevailed and the tree tipped over. Not to completely break with tradition, the family elected me to drag the tree out of the forest and back to Alexander’s barn. After having the squirrels, loose needles and bird’s nests shaken out of the tree, we had it tied up and I put it on top of the truck for the drive home. Lennon’s song was still on the CD player when we left “And so this is Christmas, I hope you have fun, The near and the dear one, The old and the young”

We arrived home and after the chaos that usually accompanies the raising of the tree, we all stood back and appreciated the end result: a nearly perfect tree (though to my practiced eye it does list off to the left just a bit).

Here is where the second surprise came in. Our kids (all four of them) pronnounced that my wife Beeb and I should sit, relax, and drink some hot coffee while they decorated the tree. It was a bit unnerving having all four of them plunging into this task at the same time as this is usually a recipe for disaster. But the holiday spirit prevailed because there were no fights, no arguments, no oaths or recriminations. It was actually a very pleasant afternoon. All the while that same song kept playing in my head, even over the carols on the stereo. “A very merry Christmas, And a happy New Year, Let's hope it's a good one…”

You may think I was a bit fixated on Lennon’s song and perhaps I was. When I hear Happy Christmas I think of where I have been and where I am going. The past year has indeed been a “good one” as I have again enjoyed the privilege of serving you, my friends and clients, in a worthy profession of my own choosing. Thank you for your continued support.

After long days in the office or on the road, I supremely enjoy the rollicking bedlam that greets me at the door of my house when I get home. On top of all that; this particular year I got to witness my daughter happily assume my former role as the “cutter of the Christmas trees” and then got to watch all the kids cheerfully decorate it; a fine afternoon indeed.

As for me, my heroic wife Beeb will keep me and the family well grounded and in good stead and I look forward to serving all of you with your continued good graces in the coming year. With that it will indeed be another ‘good one”.

So, blatantly stealing from John Lennon I would like say to everyone; “And so Happy Christmas, we hope you have fun, the near and the dear one, the old and the young.” Please have a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and a safe and restful New Year; I truly hope you have a good one. See you in 2009, Frank C. Kilcoyne, CSSC.