The 12 Blogs of Christmas: Day 1

The Kringles were the holly-jolliest bunch of people in their cold, northern town. Each year, they welcomed the Christmas season with excitement and cheer. Yet, for some reason, it seemed as if nothing could go right this year.

One holiday happening after another got turned upside-down, and the Kringles actually found themselves wondering where the magic of the season they recalled feeling in years past was just simply out of reach for them this time around. It all started 12 days before Christmas…

12 Blogs of Christmas: Day 1

The Tree Catastrophe

Mr. and Mrs. Kringle had never chopped down their own Christmas tree before, but Mrs. Kringle had seen plenty of Pinterest-worthy photos popping up on her friends’ Instagram accounts: plaid-clad husbands sawing down magnificent Douglas and Fraser firs to be hoisted them atop minivans. Being the Christmas lovers they were, Mr. and Mrs. Kringle just had to give this cut-your-own-tree thing a try.

They decided to bring their pup, Snowball, who spent a good portion of the tree hunt sniffing out, and then rolling in, piles of other dogs’ Christmas droppings.

It was only after an hour of scoring the farm that Mr. and Mrs. Kringle came to the realization that the rolling hills of trees created a peculiar illusion: those on the top of the hill, though appearing tall from a distance, would still be considered short even by Charlie Brown’s standards. At just 5’2”, Mrs. Kringle towered over every one of the trees at the farm. With their 10-foot ceilings, a four-foot tree would just look silly.

No pictures were taken at the farm, and Mrs. Kringle’s Instagram account was not updated. Instead, they headed back home, where they purchased a tree from the farm stand right outside their house.

It wasn’t until Mr. Kringle heard the snapping of branches upon pulling into the garage that he remembered he’d left the tree tied atop the SUV.