My wife and I enjoy celebrating Christmas and traditions such as putting up Christmas decorations during this enjoyable season. We also like to share our joy with others and create cherished memories with family and friends while we still have the opportunity to do so.
Real Christmas Trees
One part of our yearly celebration is putting up and decorating a Christmas tree. Prior to 1999 my wife and I would go to the local Christmas tree farms in the Santa Cruz mountains and cut down our live tree either by ourselves or with my wife's family. When we cut down Christmas trees with my wife’s family we would bring coffee, hot chocolate and doughnuts for breakfast and make a day of it. I enjoyed going through the Christmas tree farm looking for the perfect tree and appreciated this outdoor experience with family. We would drive a couple of vehicles to take us all to the mountains where the tree farms were. Plus, we needed to bring four trees home in our vehicles so we could have one in each one of our homes. As part of this family tradition, we would get together when we were done cutting down our trees and have a fun dinner celebrating the day and holding cheerful conversations.
When we stopped getting together as a family group to cut down our Christmas trees Kathy and I would still go on our own and cut down our tree. We always had an enjoyable time. Once it was very cold and a heavy mist/ rain was falling, however, the weather did not stop Kathy and I. Fortunately I had a four-wheel drive truck which made driving up and down the steep narrow muddy (when weather was bad) winding dirt roads easier to find a good spot to get out and walk around in search of our perfect tree. Walking through a forest of trees and breathing fresh air with Kathy was always a pleasant experience for both of us. One rainy and cold day on our way home from the tree farm Kathy and I noticed a small school in the mountains near where we cut down our tree that was having a Christmas holiday boutique. Kathy and I stopped to check it out and get warm. We had some hot chocolate and hot apple cider as we looked around. While looking around at all the beautiful things the vendors had we found an old-fashioned hand-made muslin cloth Christmas angel tree topper which we still have and use to this day on our “Kitchen” Christmas tree.
Transition to Artificial Christmas Trees
Unfortunately, in May 1999 I suddenly went completely blind and cutting down a Christmas tree in the Santa Cruz mountains, and getting there, since I also was no longer able to drive anymore, was not possible. Therefore my wife and I decided it was time to start decorating an artificial Christmas tree. At that time the artificial Christmas trees felt mor like a real tree and were more of a natural green color. We did find a nice artificial Christmas tree relatively easy at our first store we went to which you can read about me decorating it at “Decorating a Christmas Tree with a Disability”.
We have had this artificial Christmas tree for many years and it was starting to show its age with most of the lights no longer working. Therefore, it was time to go out and select a new tree. Since my wife and I enjoy creating a special Christmas experience in our home with many decorations, we are particular about the artificial Christmas tree we select. Therefore, we went to eight different stores in our area this year that sold artificial Christmas trees in an attempt to find one we liked. Once we looked at our local stores we knew what was available to choose from. Now it was time to make a decision on a tree which involved going back to a select few of those eight stores. After revisiting those stores we finally selected our favorite one we both liked the best.
You might wonder how a person who is completely blind like me is able to pick out a Christmas tree? What I do is my wife sight guides me to where the Christmas trees are on display to allow me to feel the tree for the height, put my hands and fingers on the branches to feel the needles. As I feel all around the branches and needles I am trying to make sure they are not too plastic or stiff feeling since I like realistic looking and feeling artificial Christmas trees.
I take a branch and with my index fingertip move the needles back and forth between my thumb and finger to feel how stiff or soft the needles are looking for natural feeling needles. Although I know some people might like artificial Christmas trees with a variety of tree needles from a few species of tree needles on the same tree, Kathy and I personally do not care for this since trees in the wild do not have multiple species of tree needles on the same tree. We also both prefer an artificial Christmas tree with a more natural looking green color therefore we also looked for one that had natural green colors and not the ones that had an unnatural green color.
I also gauge how large the tree base is by stretching my arms out to feel the width and stretching one hand up to the top to see how tall it is. We have always purchased our artificial Christmas tree with the multi-colored mini lights already on the branches. These lights are small and difficult for me to find therefore, my wife guides my fingers to the individual light so I can feel the different sized lights on each tree since there are a variety of sizes of lights these days on the trees. From talking with the employees at the different stores we were told they have a micro light, standard mini light as well as other sized lights. They started this micro light prior to this year but since I had not been looking for a Christmas tree this was the first I heard about this kind of light on Christmas trees. After my wife told me how the micro light looked visually when lit and I felt them we decided to get a tree with the standard multi colored mini tree lights.
Since each store we visited had many Christmas trees this method of feeling each tree to select one took some time although my wife and I have been partnering with each other when we go shopping and strategizing how I can select things by touch for years. Therefore this technique of selecting things by touch wasn’t a problem at all. What was a little more difficult for us was being able to physically get me in between the trees, since some of the stores had them crowded together which made it difficult to get to each tree type and feel each one of them that were on display. Besides enjoying the experience of selecting a Christmas tree I like the atmosphere of listening to the joy in other peoples’ voices as they were selecting their Christmas trees. I do not think anybody noticed that I did not have any eyesight as I was using this method of shopping by feel to select my Christmas tree. I did not know this at first, but one of the employees at one of the stores was particularly helpful in answering our questions. Later, my wife told me this employee was in a wheelchair. Although I was not using my white canes to walk and navigate, he probably noticed I had a long white cane folded up in a pouch attached to my belt, and I was using my white support cane while feeling the trees. Therefore, he probably realized that I was blind. As he was answering my wife’s and my questions I let him know that I was blind and what I was looking for when feeling the Christmas tree. He was extremely helpful and patient with us. I was also happy that this store hired a person with a disability who used a wheelchair. This has nothing to do with the person being in a wheelchair although this person was more helpful and courteous and spent the extra time we needed to select a Christmas tree than some of the other employees. I believe that this employee with a disability was even more valuable to the store than the other employees in this department who did not have a disability.
I am happy to say that we did select a new artificial Christmas tree that we will decorate and add it to our Christmas wonderland for my wife and I to experience to bring us Christmas joy. Also, as part of the Christmas season, my wife and I will enjoy the visitors who visit our home as we hear their joy and happiness in their voices that our Christmas wonderland brings to them that Kathy has lovingly created for everyone.
These Christmas traditions I describe are an easy way to create positive memories with family and friends. Since we never know when one of our family or friends may unfortunately pass away or something may happen to us, we may never have the opportunity to create loving memories with them again. Because life is short and we never know what will happen like me suddenly going blind and sadly losing a few family members and friends, do not pass up on being a part of traditions when you can like my Christmas traditions I am describing here in this blog story.
Does anybody else enjoy picking out Christmas trees? Do you create a Christmas wonderland of your own including decorations and a Christmas tree? Does anybody have any comments about how I select a Christmas tree without eyesight? The easiest way to experience what I experienced is to imagine if the store you are shopping in lost electricity, and you need to find and select a Christmas tree in complete darkness.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments. If you have any comments or feedback, please send an email to Bill Tipton since unfortunately the comments are closed to my blog site.
Bill Tipton
Contributing Author,
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/
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