Can you smell that smell?

Today, as I was walking through the parking lot toward my neighborhood grocery store I was snapped out of my mental grocery list rundown by a most subtle and beguiling smell. No, it wasn't the usual rotisserie chicken and wedge fries-to-go that scented the air, it was the the smell of an evergreen forest on a cool winter day. I followed my nose and there in plain view was confronted by the ultimate proof of how close we really were to Christmas. Freshly cut Christmas trees in various sizes and varieties leaned against the store walls, lay in heaps on wooden pallets and unwittingly did what they do best, make us feel that un-describable pang of nostalgia. Oh I know,they are a pain to drag into the house, their needles fall and make a mess for months, you have to remember to water them and often times they start to look tired before you are ready for them to. But that smell!!

I have to admit that we too caved a few years ago and finally went the artificial tree way. We spent almost 30 years driving to various lots to find just the right specimen or to the cut-your-own establishments to get one as fresh as they come. And yes, I was the one that finally put that good thing to an end. Years of sweeping pine needles from corners, under carpets and from the inside of the car trunk (you have to get the tree to the tree recycling depot somehow after you missed the curb pick-up date) had to finally become a memory. I had given in to a few years of " Not this year, one more year, please?" And how could I blame them? I had my own memories of a fragrant, fresh, cool tree coming into the house and setting the mood for the next week or two by its heady smell and regal presence. But now, it is at times like the one today when I walked by a stand of freshly cut trees that I returned to early childhood, my own and my children's and to the way Christmas smelled then.
If you are still one of the brave and determined ones that venture out into the bitter cold to hunt down just the right tree for your home, here are some things you may learn.