This time of year, in between getting budget numbers ready for next season and going over cultural practices that could be improved, I/m able to spend time getting into the holiday spirit.

It is a time to find the boxes that contain the Christmas lights, shop for just the right tree, find the CDs to help get you into the spirit and remember special memories we all have this time of year.

I will always remember Christmas vacations growing up on the ranch. One of our first jobs was to crack walnuts for Mom. Dana and I were given the task of filling three or four large empty peanut butter jars with cracked walnuts.

This was before the days of Costco, and Mom used to buy peanut butter in large two-quart jars. They hold a lot of cracked walnuts. We would grab a sack of dried walnuts, two hammers and head for a wooden picnic table.

If you hit the walnut just right, usually with the pointed end up, you could get the whole nut out at once, which filled the jar faster. That did not happen very often. All told, it probably took an hour and a half to fill the jars. Our incentive was the fudge we knew the walnuts were going into.

Mom used to fry the walnuts in hot oil and then salt them for snacks as well. We had to watch out for our flat-coated retriever named Chico, who took quite a liking to walnuts this time of year.

Chico would eat the walnuts as they fell on the ground. If he could sneak a few that were already cracked, believe me, he would. Chico gained about 10 pounds during walnut season.

After the nuts were cracked, we turned our attention to installing the Christmas lights on the house. Dad was in charge of this venture, as he made sure every string of lights was tagged from its location the previous year.

Mom and Dad also had Bailey Dewett fabricate a star that was placed behind the chimney and brightly shown up and down the Alamo Pintado corridor.

This enterprise usually took all day. Every two years we replaced the strings of lights on the star. We would carefully place the rest of the lights in their appointed locations, which never seemed to match the year before, much to Dad/s consternation. After moving things around to fit, the job was complete.

The star was in place, complete with guide wires; extension cords were tied in place; and everything was ready for the sun to set so we could all get into the station wagon and drive down Alamo Pintado Road to admire our work.

It was always a big family event to decorate the Christmas tree inside the house. Much the same protocol used for the outside decorations was followed inside as well. We had a great time and everyone helped.

As Dana and I got older, we noticed our grandparents, Sam and Eileen, did not have a tree set up in their adobe. We got the idea to climb up one of the many cypress trees that surrounded the adobe then and cut a branch that would make a respectable-looking Christmas tree.

Those cypress trees were perfect for climbing, having branches spaced perfectly after you reached the initial branch. We could climb one tree near the driveway that provided a great view of the Ballard school and old Presbyterian Church from its top limbs.

We decided on a branch that made a great Christmas tree for Sam and Eileen. So, with a small handsaw, Dana cut it down and we took it into the adobe.

We went upstairs and found the decorations, complete with some lights that were at least 15 years old.

We brought them downstairs to the living room, set up the newly cut tree on a table, strung the lights, which worked fine, and hung a few ornaments. Soon we had a pretty respectable-looking tree.

I think we would cut a cypress branch for the next couple of years for Sam and Eileen to enjoy during Christmastime. Dana and I had a good time doing it, and I am sure Sam and Eileen took great pleasure in watching us.

I hope you all enjoy a grand and blessed holiday with your families, and from Karen, Kevin, Kathleen and Clayton, Merry Christmas.

Kevin Merrill is a vineyard manager for Mesa

Vineyard Management in Santa Maria, serves as the current president of the Central Coast Wine Growers/ Association Foundation and is a current board member for the Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau.