One of my favorite Christmas things is going to get the tree. We don't go to a tree lot, we go out tramping in the woods at a tree farm and measure and argue and appraise and get frozen, and then we find the Best Tree Ever (every year! we're just talented) and cut it and carry it back to the car and rope it onto the roof. I learned to identify evergreens and tie various sailor knots this way.

My other favorite Christmas thing is caroling. We gather all our singing friends and go around the neighborhood and sing at every house. My dad, who dresses as a Victorian gentleman, is especially fond of the Gloucestershire Wassail. Wassail, wassail all over the town!