2024 Christmas Tree Hunt

Anwyn and I are back from getting this year's Christmas tree. It was hard to find the time to travel 2 hrs to St. Brieux and then back, given how trying the last month has been, but I'm glad I did.

The Road

about 2/3 of our trip was on a pretty good one lane highway. The remainder was a hodgepodge of gravel of varying widths. With the recent snow and ice, some of those parts were treacherous (icy, bumpy, narrow).

The Rescue

On one of the gravel bits, at a 'T' intersection, we found a pickup truck who missed the 'T' all the way off the road in the ditch at about a 30 degree inclination. I can't believe I neglected to take a picture.

The occupant was fine and I was going to take him to a nearby farm and see if we could get some help. We decided to first try the tiny ratchet straps that he had in his glove box. Miraculously, they survived just long enough to drag him up and out of the ditch. One of them snapped just as he got back onto the road.

Wildlife

- Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers
- magpies
- Northern Shrike
- Horned Owl
- Hungarian Partridge
- deer
- badger
- coyote

Tree Hunt

Following in the grand success of  our original tree hunt in 2019...

And the sequel in 2020

And 2021

and with the subsequent closing of Mason's Tree Farm, we arrived at the Lefebvre Tree Farm (https://www.facebook.com/lefebvrechristmastreefarm/). It is about a 2 hr drive from Saskatoon--so an even bigger event. However, the drive was far more scenic and a much more rural setting. It was about 5 minutes outside of St. Brieux (52.636865, -104.885798).

The experience was magical. The recent snow meant that everything was white. There was fragrant wood smoke rising from the chimney. Suzanne greeted us through a sliding window and told us how to find a tree and checked if we needed a saw (we did not). 

While Anwyn tested out the very cute and extremely cold outhouse, I met the family dog. She is a beautiful, barrel-chested golden lab. As soon as we closed the car door and began to back up, she took off into the trees. 


"I don't know if that dog knows where it is going, but I will follow it anyway," I declared with a certain feeling of Quest Fever. Of course, the dog knew exactly where to go (it was only a couple hundred metres) and we were soon out amongst the winter wonderland of snow covered balsam fir. 

It never stood a chance and we had the perfect tree in no time at all and soon had it loaded into the CRV. But, not before we helped a multigenerational family get a group photo for the ten of them recalling their own hunt.

It made for a bit of a tight ride on the way home.


But, I couldn't have asked for better company for the light show that we enjoyed for the last hour of the trip.


Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!


Comments

Greta James said…
The kids and I really enjoyed these Christmas tree hunt videos Mike. Thanks for sharing!
6:58 pm
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