All I Want for Christmas…

Christmas trees and cruising boats don’t typically go together in the same sentence. But it seems nine-year-olds need Christmas trees. So when Arboles de Navidad started appearing in Guaymas, Maia began dreaming about a tree of her own. 

A real tree.

Not the tiny fake one we carry—which still seems to take up much of the boat.

Trees don’t do well on cruising boats for a few reasons. First there’s the space issue—trees take room, space we normally reserve for living in. Then there’s the salt water—if we had bought a tree in Guaymas it would have ridden south on the foredeck. Two days of saltspray would have done it in. And it’s hot here, trees don’t like heat…

But somehow every argument against having a tree disappears when not only are they available, they’re freakishly cheap—we paid less for a Canadian tree here than we do in Canada…

 Add this to the fact that the only other thing besides a Christmas tree on Maia’s Christmas list is that everyone else be as fortunate as her, and suddenly a tree seems easy to find space for.

 So we bought our tree. And carted it home. We nestled it in the cockpit and then Maia and I began to bake: shortbread and minced tarts and homemade eggnog (we make the cooked version in Mexico.)

 We put on the Christmas tunes and spiked the grown-up eggnog and trimmed our very special tree.

 It may not last. It may be brown and wilted by weeks end. It may fill the boat with needles. The cat might eat it.

But the joy…