Sunday, December 13, 2020

Our COVID Christmas tree

Our quest for a Christmas tree on Saturday did not go as planned -- but, really, what has in this topsy-turvy year? 

First we visited the annual Boy Scout Troop 53 tree sale outside the New Garden Giant -- but it wasn't there. I don't know if they had sold all their trees or if COVID had discouraged them. (Fortunately, we were able to support the Cub Scouts a few weeks earlier, buying wreaths from their stand at Barnard's Orchards.)

I'd driven past the Avon Grove Lions tree sale in Jennersville, so that was our next stop. Again: no trees, no Lions (we discovered later they had sold all their trees; good for them!).

Time to reboot and fortify ourselves with McRib sandwiches in the car while watching the sun setting over Jenner's Pond (they were meh at best, but we were curious to learn what all the fuss was about; kind of like eating fried Oreos at the Cecil County Fair). I had seen people online talking about Clark's Tree Farm, and it was close by (on Pusey Mill Road in Cochranville), so we headed over there. Almost unbelievably, we saw two friends in the parking lot -- worth a mention in these days of social distancing!

We went into the gift shop and Dearest Partner asked about the procedure for finding and buying a tree, and the employee filled us in. So we headed out to the tree field and after some debate selected a tree that was perfect in shape, fullness and height. I stood there while D.P. fetched an employee with a saw. We carried the tree to the "corral," where it was measured (they charge by the foot), and then we paid inside the gift shop. 

The guy who seemed to be in charge told us a funny story about some customers earlier in the day who purchased a towering 18-foot-high tree and hauled it off in a Ford F150 pickup, well strapped down. He was tickled that they later sent him a photo showing the tree inside the house.

We were fortunate to have an unseasonably warm day to buy and set up the tree -- usually it's freezing! 


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