Mele Kalikimaka

Last year my family and I were reminiscing of earlier Christmas times and I recalled my mother waking us up by singing Mele Kalikimaka by Bing Crosby. Well, to my surprise, my siblings did not remember such a significant event, so I turned to my mother for verification, but unfortunately she too was struck by amnesia. Well after much carrying on, it turned out mom never sang that song to us....and so we now sing "Mele Kalikimaka the song Mom never sang on a bright Christmas morn". Now as a side note - she did sing "Pablo the Mexican Reindeer"...but that's another story.

So this is the first year I will be home in Three Hills for Christmas. I'm pretty excited about it. I've lived here for almost 7 years now. This week, I picked up my real Christmas tree at the only place in town...our local gas station. A friend and I sorted through the options. It was a bit of a guessing game as all their little arms were still in the up position. Eventually we found a winner, borrowed the saw from the nice lady and after we balanced it on the ice machine, cut off a few inches from the trunk. This isn't exactly how we do it in Ontario, but hey, there's no tree lot here.

There was one redeeming moment that reminded me of getting a Lanigan tree...the saw. You see, for whatever reason, come Christmas tree cutting time, any sharp saw would migrate to hidden caverns in the garage where no man could find them. A yearly exodus if you will. So the fallen saws, ones with cracked handles and dull teeth - too weary for the trip - would lay down relatively near to the garage door or hang upon nails in clear view. These were the ones that would be given to us by my father to cut down a tree for the family. Perhaps some of you have also experienced the result of this unfortunate tool strike.

So my sister, brother and I would set out with our Christmas tree toolkit consisting of a bedsheet, a bungee cord and ....the saw. When we would arrive to the tree lot, others would mock the saw and I must admit, there were several times we did opt for the man's saw over our own - but not this year. After perusing hundreds of christmas trees, faithfully marking the potentials with pieces of grass, sticks or mittens, the winner would be chosen. With a sigh, one of us would ask for "the saw". After laying down in the wet snow with branches poking in their eyes - they would initiate Phase 1. Phase 2 would start shortly after the shoulder cramping set in with the 2nd saw-er...then usually we ended with Phase 3 - equally similar to Phase 2. Each year cursing said saw. We would then carry the tree back to the car - my 5'3" sister on the tip and my 6'2" brother on the trunk and I would carry... "the saw". Once arriving at the vehicle, we would wrap our new addition with the bedsheet, squeeze it in the backseat and head for home. I tell you, every year I would return "the saw" back to the garage, placing it precariously close to the garbage can or even hiding it in a nook. However, every year it was back. Hmm.

On the MAF application front, this past week I handed in the first set of papers and completed the formal interview. Things appear to be coming along quite quickly. After the selection committee reviews this first chunk of information, then I'll be asked for references. So please keep me in your prayers as I continue in this direction. Thanks friends:)

I hope you enjoyed the stories today and are creating some of your own this Christmas season:)

Mele Kalikimaka!!
~April:)


A video featuring Lisa & April Lanigan cutting down the Christmas tree of 2006 with "the saw". Note: We had been working on the tree for a while and laughing quite hard and thus were out of breath.