The White House Christmas Tree arrives by horse drawn wagon, Monday, Nov. 27, 2006, at the White House in Washington. The tree comes from Crystal Springs Tree Farm in Lehighton, Pa. The farm won a national contest to have its 18-foot Douglas fir tree displayed in the White House. (AP)

The highlight of the season: We cut down our own Christmas tree each year.

Although we deliver ours to our home in the back of a pickup truck and not by horsedrawn wagon (not quite as charming as the White House process!). Our local U.S. Forestry Department Office sells permits for a pinon every year for $10 to $15. While I hate to cut down a tree, it's part of the US Forest Department's plan to get the big pines growing again up on the mesa above my house. The trouble is, the trees look so much smaller out in there in the middle of thousands of acres filled with trees, and I tend to get greedy. We've brought him some giants a few times that barely fit way up into the clerestory! That sounds cool, but my house is not all that big.