Tree Traditions for a New Mexico Christmas

New Zealander Aly Hyder lives in Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico and has a very different Christmas experience to the “barbeque Christmas” of the southern hemisphere.

Hyder goes out to the forest for a Christmas tree every year – it’s been a tradition since she set down roots in Taos County 11 years ago.

“I’m from New Zealand and we don’t have a white Christmas,” Hyder explains.

“In New Zealand we used to see all these people going out on TV,” Hyder said about harvesting the quintessential holiday element – the family Christmas tree. Formerly only something “other people” do, it is now a solid tradition of her family.

Hyder is the director of the Taos Ski Valley Chamber of Commerce.