The first year we were married, Dwayne dubbed the day we hunted, bagged, and set up our own Christmas tree as “National Swear Day”. And it was true—my unflappable husband was truly flapped by a bad tree stand and other circumstances. His job is to make sure the tree stands true for a month—he get’s to bow out of lighting, decorating, watering, and cleaning up after the tree. But he’s found enough hassle in his part to continue calling the day after Thanksgiving as National Swear Day.
I’ve come to suspect that Dwayne actually enjoys NSW. Every year, he is the one manipulating the family into choosing bigger and bigger trees. Last year was a complete debacle. But this year was perfect. First of all, we finally found “our” tree farm. (Note to self for NSD 2015: JP Landscape Tree Farm
29726 NE Cherry Valley Road, Duvall, WA 98019).
Although the weather vacillated between “downpour” and “deluge”, we got out at the farm, were immediately greeted by the farmer under a warm shelter, given a quick lesson on the different species they grew, and were told that “all Frasiers are $25 this weekend.” The Fraziers were getting too big to sell, meaning many were getting over twelve feet. Dwayne’s eyes gleamed at “over 12 feet” not at “$25”! We didn’t go far into the 
field before Dwayne spotted three perfect trees and then let the kids pick. We cut, carried, and then handed it over to the staff to do all the actual work. The kids and I then got to pick up our s’more bags and roast marshmallows over the roaring fire unfazed by the rain. The farm dog politely greeted everyone, while we snacked, sipped on hot chocolate and wrote and posted letters to Santa.
It felt wrong to get the perfect tree so cheaply, so Dwayne buy some mistletoe and snowman nutcracker to assuage my guilt.
And by nightfall, we were ready for the season!
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