It was a week after the turn of the year of 1875 when rancher Ben Cartwright called his three eldest grandchildren by him. The three (Mitch, Pam and Lisa) played in the snow outside on the yard of their ranch the Ponderosa. Ben went to stand on the porch and looked at the children.
“Mitchell Jonathan, Pamela Iris and Elizabeth Cartwright. Come here to me at once!”, said the owner of the Ponderosa semi-stern.
The three looked at each other amazed and worried.
“Grandpa only reacts that way when one of us has done something bad. And we haven’t done that at all”, said Mitch.
“Let’s go then right away”, Pam, the twin-sister of Mitch, said.
The twins grabbed their little sister by the hand and walked to the porch where their grandpa waited.
“What have we done for bad things?”, asked Mitch.
“Nothing. I just need you for now”, answered Ben.
They went inside where the children went to sit on the settee but Ben kept standing.
“Before Christmas you have decorated the Christmas tree. And now you may undecorate it. Your father and uncles have brought the boxes downstairs. It seemed me like a chore for you to do this”, Ben explained.
“Especially because we don’t break anything of course”, Mitch remarked.
The rancher looked at him for a second but didn’t say anything. The children took off their coats and went to work.
“I know a much quicker way to undecorate the tree”, Mitch said after a while.
“And that is?”, asked Lisa.
“We put Lucky in the tree and hold a piece of chicken in front of him. Then the decorations are out of it in a minute”, said her brother.
They laughed all three.
“I wouldn’t do that because then you won’t get pocket money for the whole month from your parents”, they heard then a voice saying.
The three looked up and knew at once that it was their grandpa who had spoken those words. They let abandon that idea and went to pluck the tree empty by hand.
“Grandpa, why must we actually undecorate the Christmas tree?”, Lisa asked suddenly.
“That’s custom. After the turn of the year we undecorate the Christmas tree to plant it somewhere”, said Ben.
“May we plant it somewhere at the yard so that it will become our tree? With Easter we can change it then into an Easter tree”, Mitch said hopeful.
“With uncle Hoss as Easter bunny on the spot of the Christmas angel”, reacted his twin-sister.
“That is a good idea and we do that then too. That replanting of the tree then”, said Ben.
He decided to make an education pastime of it right away.
When the boom was completely empty the children put all the decorations in the boxes.
“Grandpa, the tree is empty. What do we do now?”, asked Pam.
“Well, we dig a hole in the ground on the yard and plant the tree in it. Go and see if Candy and/or Griff are there”, said the rancher.
The three went outside but didn’t find the hands. Their father Adam and uncle Hoss Cartwright came riding up the yard though. The children looked at each other and they all agreed with each other.
“We must have you. You must dig a hole in the ground for our tree”, said Mitch.
The brothers dismounted and went inside.
“Pa, what is that about that we must dig a hole for a tree?”, asked Hoss.
“Well, the children have undecorated the Christmas tree and they want to replant it on the yard. Then they have their own spot at the ranch. But I think it’s better behind the house. In connection with their safety”, Ben explained.
“Well, in that case we love to do it”, answered Adam.
They went outside and dug a big hole behind the ranch house. After that the men carried the tree outside and he tree got planted.
“Kids, this is now your sot. That means that you must take care of it yourselves. So give it water and keep it neat around it. Hereby the Christmas tree gets reused and he can continue to live”, said Ben.
The children were very impressed.
“We promise that and with Easter we hang Easter eggs in it”, said Mitch.
“And uncle Hoss as Easter bunny”, answered Pam.
Ben and Adam thought the answer was funny but Hoss didn’t. Though he found it a good idea.