As far back as I can remember we as a family always went out--selected and cut our Christmas Tree. Now I can remember a far piece back even to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, U-Boats sinking tankers off Vilano beach, Germans coming ashore and my first real spanking at age 1 1/2,---I remember I P'ed my pants.   Jerry--they don't want to know about that,--get back to the story and quit remembering so much.   I wanted to tell them how much that belt of daddy's hurt.   You were and still are head strong and hard headed---you needed the spanking and a whole bunch more of them. Ok-Ok-ok, you're right--I need to stay focused on the story Huh ?.!  About a month before Christmas we would pack a big lunch basket--get the axe and rope--put on older clothes---  hold it--hold it-why did you just say "older clothes"? Because--everything we had to wear was old and we didn't want to mess them up while out in the woods soooo we put on our "Older Clothes" and saved our old clothes to wear going to church and places understand?? We sorta had a tree picked out ahead of time from our being in the woods and the beach area all the time. Back then it was legal to cut cedar trees and that's what we always had. The cedar tree is great because it is real full and has a good shape to it. The cedar gave off a good aroma to the house and the ornaments and lights sparkled against the deep green color. Normally we would go to the Island area to get our tree because it was full of cedars. We would just take the ole beach buggy and ride all over the Bad Lands.   Jerry--you are doing it again--what are the "Bad Lands?"   The Bad Lands are what we called Davis Shores. Back years ago a fellow by the name of Davis dredged out the Matanzas Bay and pumped in what is now called Davis Shores and Anastasia Island. I have a picture of my great grandfather Alex Canova operating the dredge and pumping in the fill dirt. Back then--the Bad Lands were known for having prickla pears (cactus like stickers) rattle snakes, wild hogs and just about any other type of critter. The prickla pears were the bad things---they would fly up from the tires and stick in your hide (shin). Getting a Christmas tree was a all day event. Mama always had to have the "Perfect" tree (Charlie Brown)---no gaps   in the branches and the exact right size--7 foot tall and a 3 foot diameter. We would look at 30 to 50 trees and daddy would have to measure each one. Mama would get out and walk all around each one and it was either thumbs up or thumbs down. This was always a barrel of fun going to find the perfect Christmas tree. Daddy would bring home a few rabbits or a good size hog along with the "Perfect" tree. Our home was filled with the scent of cedar , apple pies, sweet potatoes, fresh pork, baked macaroni, home made dressing, baked turkey, shrimp salad, ham pilau, gravies and all cooked Minorcan style--fresh from the land. This one year daddy had dislocated his knee and fluid built up on the knee cap. He was working while wearing crutches and his knee looked to be as big as a wash tub. It was all he could do just to get around and we knew that the Christmas tree hunt was out of the question. My uncle "WILD THING" Kenny happened to come by one day and Sister and I mentioned to him about possibly not having a Christmas tree. He listen to our plea and gave us a hug then said;  "YOU KIDS DON'T WORRY ABOUT A THING,--UNCLE KENNY HAS A PLAN."   This was on a Monday afternoon and come Tuesday morning there was a Christmas tree standing on our back porch. Daddy looked at mama and said; "KENNY MUST HAVE BROUGHT THIS TO US BUT THIS IS NOT A TREE FROM THE WOODS--IT'S SHAPED TO PERFECT."  We all decorated the tree and didn't think to much more about it. About a week later Kenny drops by and daddy ask's; "Kenny,-WHERE DID THE TREE COME FROM?" reply; "DAVIS SHORES." Now getting a straight answer out of Kenny is hard to do--he will side step you every time. Christmas plans started taking shape and then the news paper hit the front door. Front page,--there was a picture of some home owners standing in their front yard where a cedar tree use to be. A reward was being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thief or thieves that cut and stole their tree. Daddy says to mama; "FIND KENNY--TELL HIM TO GET HIMSELF OVER HERE NOWWW.!" Hours later Kenny shows up with that little grin on his face knowing what daddy wanted him for. They walked away out of hearing but daddy was poking Kenny in the chest with his finger and his hands were flying everywhere. Kenny takes off and daddy walks back in and says,--"KIDS,--NEVER ASK OR TELL KENNY ANYTHING WITHOUT PASSING IT BY ME FIRST,---UNDERSTOOD???!! Christmas came off without a hitch and no more was said about the tree. Kenny and his buddies came in every day to help mama with things that daddy couldn't get to because of his bad knee. All my relatives and extended Minorcan Family dropped in for a visit--Christmas was great growing up. Sister still believes that Santa Clause comes down the chimney and she can hear the reindeers prancing on the roof.  Several years later when we were older-daddy told us how we came to get "THAT" tree. It seems that Kenny and some of his teen age buddies went on Arricola Ave, Davis Shores and made a mid-night requisition of a Christmas Tree for us kids. To this day it is still hard to get a straight answer from "WILD THING" Kenny.