The Thanksgiving meal is over, the left overs have been packaged up and sent off home with your guests. The afternoon could be spent watching the football games or hunting on the TV. for that holiday special we all know and love. But don’t you think that now that you’ve eaten your fill of those holiday special treats that you would be better off, getting a little activity???
How about going out for that Christmas tree?? There is a growing number of people that now make it a tradition to get their Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, and during the shopping frenzy of Black Friday through Cyber Monday. It is estimated that there will be between 25-30 million fresh cut Christmas trees sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Black Friday is slowly becoming the busiest day to buy that perfect tree, put it up and have it decorated before the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
This would be a great way to get everyone moving and head out to the local tree farm and see if there really is a light shining down on your perfect tree. Going out to a tree farm makes for a longer and more physical trip since instead of driving up to a store or local tree lot. You now have to drive a while to get out in the country “(that is where the trees are grown) get out of the car and hike the tree paths to find that perfect tree. Whether it’s Blue Spruce, a Douglas or Balsam Fir, Frasier or Scotch Pine. You are now at the epicenter of where you need to be to find YOUR tree.
Getting out in the cool crisp late November and December air will make your heart beat a little faster and get the blood pumping. Just the ticket you need after indulging in all the holiday specialty treats that come only once a year. Make this a great family and friends time by splitting up and letting everyone search for the tree that speaks out to each of them to say “ Hey, Here I am, Pick Me” Finding that perfect tree can sometime take hours of walking around, comparing everyone’s selections and making a final decision. This is one way you will be burning some of those holiday meal calories.
When you have finally found the perfect tree, now comes the fun of cutting it down. My family has been doing this for years and we have a special tree saw, used only for this purpose. Since I’m the head of the household and my children are grown and have children of their own, I make it a point to have my grandson start the sawing and then help him in making that final cut that brings the tree down. The whole family gets involved in this and we make a big deal of easing the tree down so that no branches are broken. Then we carry our award winning tree down to the parking area where the ‘Tree Shaker” and Tree Bundler” is staged so that we can eliminate at least some of the loose needles and make the tree easier to transport. First though we need to pay for it… Did I mention I am the head of the household so somehow that task also gets delegated to me??
Then it off to hearth and home with the tree so we can get it into it’s stand and start the decorating process. By this point, I usually retire to my favorite chair and let the grandkids, our children start stringing the lights and putting on the ornaments, all under the supervision of my wife, who like any good “Take-Charge” person has the final say on where things get placed on “Her” tree. Funny how that works!
All in all this is a great way to start off the Christmas Holiday Season! The benefit to this all is that we all had the opportunity to be together as friends and family and get a little exercise. We got out, got moving and had a great time. If we keep in mind that by starting off the holiday season by becoming active and doing other activities that promote us moving around and getting physical it will help us to keep those extra holiday pounds at bay.
Anyone interested in getting the ladder out and helping with putting up the lights on the house????????? Happy Active Holiday Season