The Christmas Tree Index

For years we’ve gone to Bob’s Trees in Galway to cut down our Christmas tree — and each year we informally rate our outing compared to previous experiences. We’ve had our share of problems over the years, from terrible weather to cars stuck in the mud to angry tantrums — by both children and adults.

So it seemed like a good time to formally rate each year’s tree cutting adventure based on a fixed set of criteria. I decided to track the following:

-Mood
-Weather
-Field Conditions
-Tree Quality
-Transportation

Each of the five are assigned a maximum possible score of twenty points. Here are this year’s results:

I’m happy to report that we had perfect scores in four areas. Everyone was upbeat and chipper, the weather was ideal, the ground was frozen and covered with a light coating of snow, and the tree was exceptionally healthy and beautiful.

Where we fell down was in the transportation department. On the way home, we had to stop twice to re-tie the tree to the roof of my car, something that’s only very rarely been done in my 25-plus years of Christmas tree moving.

Due to the seriousness of this problem, only 5 points were awarded in this year’s transportation category, giving us a total score of 85. Not bad.

It’s unfortunate that we failed in a category that we had so much control over, but lessons have been learned. Here’s to doing a better job next year. Nobody expects Christmas to be perfect, but we can always strive for excellence.

2 thoughts on “The Christmas Tree Index

  1. Judging from the median on I-90 Westbound this morning, at least 3 zeros in the ‘Transportation’ category were scored. Trooper appeared to be discussing the finer points, perhaps square knot v. half-hitch, with one of the drivers.

    1. Actually losing the tree off your car would be the Chernobyl of Christmas tree harvesting. It would mean dead zero in transportation — and seriously lower the mood and tree quality scores.

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