It’s time for a tree
I heard Papa say,
I’ll go for my ax
and we’re on our way.

Jane got her coat
and Dale his cap.
Babe put on his boots
and knotted the strap.

To carry the tree
I brought my toboggan
our family dog Betz,
in snow to her noggin .

Now this was a job
we all undertook,
the very best tree
for our Christmas book.

There in the woods,
this littlest tree,
most covered with snow
beckoned to me.

But Papa said no!
So we past it by
he’s after that big one
that caught his eye.

It’s sure a beauty
we all exclaimed,
but that littlest tree
in my thoughts remained.

We loaded that big one
so full and green
trudged through the snow…
a Norman Rockwell scene.

I’ll always remember
that Christmas eve
and that littlest tree…
that called to me.

Jack,

Awwww..... Your poem makes me think of "Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas". Emmett went out and cut the Christmas branch....

I love your poem and the nostalgia it elicits. I'm (quite) old enough now to reflect on Christmases past and it now seems as if it all took place in another world. If you see another little tree....capture it and make it your own and then write another poem and tell us about it, please.....

Oh, Jack! Nice! nice! nice! Kind of a Charlie Brown kind of a tree...how compassionate to want the "little guy" in the bunch! Loved it!

Senti stuff... me likes of course!
This does make me go "awww" as it does Galatea!
The very very unusual rhyme caught my fancy, "toboggan/noggin", hehe .

"the very best tree
for our Christmas book."
-I'm a bit lost on the Christmas book part... you just imply a tree that you'd remember when you look back, correct?

I’ll always remember
that Christmas eve
and that littlest tree…
that called to me.
It's touchingly cute you remember, the littlest tree that called to you, after all these years! Thanks for recording that in poetry and sharing, it makes for a warm-fuzzy read!

I luv the way the last stanza seems to be written from the present, adult perspective and the rest of it from that of the child, for ex,
Jane got her coat
and Dale his cap.
Babe put on his boots
and knotted the strap.
~impressions of a child.

Hope this year you have a cool little tree for Christmas that reminds you of the bygone years and makes this one special.

----
"It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life,
(...)
I don't know who you are
but I... I'm with you."
~Avril Lavigne, I'm with you [found here]

Galatea
Children are in their own world for so short a time.
Their dead-set on making us old.

Flutter
I think my dad spent more on the tree than on us.
His was always voted the best tree in the family.

Share
You don’t have a Christmas book? I believe there are
more pictures taken at Christmas than at any other time.
Don’t rely on memory, that’s like going to sea in a sieve.

In sharing
All the names in this are my siblings, with the exception
of the dog, she played herself.


Thanks for taking time to respond.
Jack

Jack...well this excellent poem certainly helped to get me in the Christmas spirit.

I remember many trips way back into the Thirteen Acre Wood, what we call home, to find the perfect Christmas tree. It had to be at least thirteen feet tall and fill half the living room. Personally, I always preferred the Charlie Brown Christmas tree...seeing as I had to haul the bugger out from a mile back in the bush.

Your poem invoked some fond memories from Christmases past...thank you my friend.

“ Lionheart
~

Oh, Jack!

This brings back so many Christmas Tree "hunting" memories. Like the time I had the hiccups so bad while shopping for a tree, my dad made me go back and wait in the car! Oh, and the time my sisters and I were out in the woods cutting down our own trees(the youngest one's brilliant idea) and that very same sibling collapsed from an asthma attack. We rushed her to the hospital all right, but not until we loaded all the trees on to the truck! ( some things are a priority you know! ) And then there was the time Dad brought home the "ugly" tree because he said he felt sorry for it. We later found out that it was a tree he had planted himself on his parent's farm when he was younger. I wished I had known it at the time, then the tree would have been the most beautiful of all!
I won't be putting up a tree this year due to my evil and very destructive cat from Helle, which has me rather depressed, but your poem helped me get in to the Holiday spirit, and for that I am very greatful!

Maybe I'll put a tree up any ways and lock "Miss Sassy Pants" in the vacuum cleaner closet for three weeks. That'll teach her!

Thanks, Dad! Your poetry always warms my heart.

Jack,

I wonder if you'll wander into the woods and find that 'littlest tree' all big and sturdy now. Oh oops, they take decades to grow don't they? Maybe down the generations, your great great grandson will head straight for your little tree (which, mind, will be big and beautiful by that time), while his own boy will point at another little tree and wish it were his.

And it will go on.

Thank you for sharing this mem'rable incident MoMule. Children do find beauty in the most disregarded things/places.

Lionheart and La J
It would seem this small offering has call up fond memories.
As I warmed over some bygone memories for you, in your responses
you brightened my day.


Sanya
I loved going into the woods with my kids to cut our own
Christmas tree, it seemed to instill a deeper feeling for the
season.

After thought
The house has been treeless for too long, I think I hear the
littlest tree. Jack

Please write us another about this year's tree Jack.

Dad,

Your poem brings memories of my childhood and us girls begging my father to bring home the sad looking tree as opposed to the one he wanted to get. I guess it's why we rescue less fortunate things to this day. Including the three cats that are currently ruining the tree as I type.

Of course there was the tree from three years ago that sent me to the emergency room to get six stitches. Can't say as if I was feeling any love for that particular fir, but all of the other ones get my support!


Merry Christmas, Dad. I love you tons!

Becky,
I’ll try but don’t count on it. I haven’t had a tree in eleven years. Here’s hopping you have a Mary Christmas

Pam,
I always remember those Christmas’s when I was a kid. We were ungodly poor
but I didn’t know it. Looking back mom and dad tried their best to make what they could afford into something special, and they did. I don’t begrudge those years I cherish them.
Here’s hopping all is well in your life.
As love lights another Christmas, Mary Christmas, Pam.

After having grumpily settling on a smallish tree this year after being told by the 9 year old that she just had to have THAT tree, (with back up from the peanut gallery) I had a rethink about it after reading this Jack. It's not the size of the tree but the memories that go with it. Our tree doesn't "match", it won't be on the cover of any magazines but every ornament on it has a story and a memory that is special to one of us.

It's hard to carry on with traditions when an important part of those traditions is no longer with us but we do it so that the younger generations will be able to enjoy them as well. My mom reluctantly agreed to a tree this year after two years without. I'm sure that Dad would agree that just because he's not there, there's no reason why the tree shouldn't be! Besides, the new great-grandbaby's will need to have something to pull over!
Kathleen

Oh, Jack! I had forgotten this one...I'm glad it got bumped up on here to enjoy again. My heart would have been with the littlest tree also. I think you showed just what kind of a person you are~~warm, caring & compassionate, with a soft spot for the underdog. Hugs from MA all the way to MO & happy holiday wishes to you & your family. Joan

Kathleen,
From the mouths of babes,
I wish I could force myself to put up a tree but the joy that was once there is gone and then I think of the mess in taking it down. Best wishes to you and your family this Christmas and good health in the new year. God Bless
Jack

Dear friend,
It was a pleasant surprise to myself as well. The memories of that once was family brings a lump to my throat. Those were stressful times but Christmas brought us all together.
Or maybe it was the tree? Merry Christmas Joan.
Jack