Xmas Tree Crew

For the past few weeks, there was a black, beat-up Nissan van parked in the empty spot in the photo above. A handwritten sign in red ink read “Xmas Tree Van”. Around the corner, in front of the Rite Aid was a Christmas tree stand with trees of various sizes for sale along with a tiny office (maybe 4 feet by 4 feet at most) made of wood planks and thick plastic walls. The van had California license plates so I assume that the owners of the van were in town for a few weeks to sell some trees and make enough money for the next adventure.

There seemed to be about 3 guys and 1 or two women working the stand. All of them appeared to be in their mid to late 20s. The one guy that I saw regularly had a pierced septum and wore the same brown Carhartt one-piece coveralls and knit every time I encountered him. I'd say “good morning” to him whenever I passed him during my daily morning dog walk. One time, I gave him a copy of Wired magazine that I was done reading as I figured he might appreciate having an interesting diversion from the van and the stand. While I don't know how these tree sellers passed their time, I walked past the van one morning around 6:30AM to see it rocking from side to side. As the van was a'rockin, I didn't bother knocking as I assumed that even Christmas tree sellers need some loving like the rest of us.

I'm really not sure what the stories were behind the Christmas tree crew but as I passed them one day, one of the guys was talking about moving to Minneapolis for a while as one of the options he rattled off. I found myself fascinated by these folks and really wish I had found out more about them. For one thing, how did they get all of the trees out of the woods and into New York City? I never saw a truck pull up with a bunch of trees. Also, did they have families waiting for them? Were they college students working over their break? Were they all from Portland?

As I've written about previously, I envy those who don't feel tied down to people, places, or things. While the gutterpunks in Tompkins Square Park can be annoying at times, I'm drawn to the way they can carry their entire lives on their backs and live out in the world. Sure, as I type this in a nice and relatively warm apartment, I wouldn't want to be sleeping on the streets right now. Still, there's a part of me that wants to abandon everything – a job I don't really like, financial responsibility- and just float on out of here and experience life.


On Christmas morning, the van was gone. I guess that after midnight on Christmas eve, there's no point in hanging out on the corner selling trees. The crew is probably still on the road if they're making their way back to California. Perhaps they have a different adventure in store. I regret not talking to them a little bit more as I want to fill in all the missing pieces about them. If things work out, I may get my chance next winter. For now, I wish them well on their travels and hope that they were able to enjoy some of the holiday while they were helping others do the same.