“I’ve got a lovely bunch of candy canes; there they are just hanging from my tree! Toodle-dee-doodle-dee-doop!” sang an off-key Tippy, Santa’s right hand elf, as he marched through the deep Washington snow. “Some are tall, some are short, some from ‘73! Yes, I’ve got a lovely bunch of candy canes!” Tippy’s high-pitched singing was heard by all of the kind animals of Yosemite National Park, and many wondered what an elf such as Tippy was doing so far away from the North Pole so close to Christmas.

“Can you keep a secret?” he asked the first squirrel to approach him. “I’m on a top priority mission, directly from Santa Clause himself! I need to find the most tremendously, spled-dooply-dee Christmas tree for the North Pole!”

“Oh my, what an honor! You must be a very a very good elf for Santa to have given you such an important task!” the squirrel marveled. Tippy beamed at the compliment and continued on his merry way. He checked every pine tree, rating them based on height, triangular shape-itude, ornament holding capability, and present displaying aptitude.

Tippy skipped from one end of the park to the other and then back again, sometimes double and even triple checking trees! But try as he might, not one of the trees he saw was spectacular enough to stand tall in front of Santa’s workshop. A distraught Tippy sat down on a rock and sighed.

“I’m never going to find the most tremendous Christmas tree!” wailed Tippy. “I’ve let Santa down!” He sulked and sighed as the snow began to fall harder. Suddenly, a strong gust of winter wind knocked Tippy flat on his back and into the cold, wet, snow. Cold, tired, and now wet, Tippy prepared to return to the North Pole empty-handed. He pulled himself out of the pile of snow he was sitting in when he looked up and saw the most marvelous, absolutely wonderful pine tree he had ever laid eyes on.

It was twelve feet tall, the greenest shade of green, and the most geometrically perfect triangular shape. Its long sweeping branches were absolutely, positively excellent for maximum ornament and candy cane hanging.
And best of all the bottom branches stopped just high enough so that all of the presents would fit under the green masterpiece.
Tippy, his excitement renewed, jumped and skipped around the tree.
“I did it!” he cheered. And he had! He had finally found the best Christmas tree he could have possibly imagined. Santa would absolutely love it.

With the help of the reindeer, Tippy got the tree all the way up to the North Pole just in time for Christmas. And everyone agreed it truly was the most tremendous Christmas tree the North Pole had ever seen.