Winter Christmas is way different to the Summer Christmases I grew up with. As a child and young adult I couldn’t really relate to all the Christmas cards and images of snow and sitting by the fire. For us in the southern hemisphere, Christmas is a time for the beach and outdoor Carols by Candlelight and Christmas Day in a family backyard with a pool or the sprinklers going. So the first year we came here and it was -17 celcius with 14 inches of snow on the ground, it was a surprise!
But over the years we’ve adjusted and we always hope for Christmas snow, we’ve gone to the Christmas tree farms, found the perfect tree, cut it down and brought it home, we’ve done the hot chocolate and hayride thing. It’s a fun day out and we alway love doing it but for the last few years, since we no longer have a car, trekking to Connecticut to the Christmas tree farm to chop down a tree is not really cost effective because by the time you hire a car, drive and return home you’ve spent 300 bucks to retrieve a $50 tree. We still do it occasionally for the fun but this year we opted for a city Christmas tree hunt.
We are so organised this year, everything is done. We’re amazed at ourselves and so 2 weeks earlier than we’d normally do it, we decided to get our tree. We have our favourite place to go. It’s the Christmas tree lot at Stranger’s Gate on 106 in Central Park but they weren’t there yet. I guess they set up later than 2 weeks before. They’ve aways been there when we needed our tree. But we’ve always gotten our tree the last weekend before Christmas and so we had to go in search of another Christmas tree stand.
How do you find a Christmas tree stand? It’s not like you can google it, or map it on your smart phone. You have to just roam the streets and find some guy selling chopped down trees. But this is New York and it didn’t take us long to find several stands on Broadway. The kids chose. We got a slightly smaller tree this year because the spot is a little smaller. While The King was inside paying we saw this…
There’s no end to the interesting sites you’ll see wandering this great city. I suppose we were a site to others, lugging our freshly purchased tree home with the snow falling all around.
But that’s how you hunt a city Christmas tree.
I really love this time of year!
Comments 14
Ahhh….I always wondered how you NYC city dwellers found your trees 🙂 Sounds like fun, love the pictures. xo
Man, you really made me miss my home state. Your pictures make me so homesick but I thank you for letting me share your experience through pictures! You’re gonna show us pictures of the tree all decked out right?
Author
Sure but hey a girl’s gotta stretch these events out!
I’ve always wanted to live in the city but never really thought about how you would find a tree. We typically drive 10 miles down the road to a tree farm and chop one down ourselves. How far did you have to carry it?
Author
We carried it fro 106 and broadway to 115th and 8th… so about 9 blocks up and 3 blocks over!. Nice little workout!
You made me home sick for my NYC days!! I always loved getting a tree and taking it home to my our apartment. Love the pictures, looks like you got a great one!!! Wishing you and your family a great holiday!!
Author
Thanks and the same to you! Sorry to make you homesick
Love Christmas in the city – so energized, lights, activity. Just awesome.
Author
yeah it sure is …. and now, snow!
THANK YOU! I was just wondering the other day how you city people do that. I see you need two medium-sized children to help carry the tree. Interesting…
Author
Right! or there’s taxis or the subway… but we opted for the healthy option and spreading the festive cheer through the neighbourhood. We’re thoughtful like that!
It’s probably super easy to get a tree here in Nebraska, yet we put up our artificial one every year. I’m impressed with your dedication!
Author
Part of the Christmas thing for me is the smell.Brings back childhood memories. It’s not Christmas without it. Hubs would totally have an artificial tree. It’s me who insists on live.
It looks like all of you had fun. Thank you so much for sharing with Adorned From Above’s Link Party. We love having your join the fun.Debi and Charly @ Adorned From Above