Alas.....this year.....I've had a change of mind.This year I am waiting it out. This year the Christmas tree is going to be REAL!
That's me holding Kenzie in 2002. In the background is my fake tree.
Same tree four years later in 2006.
2008. Is it real? No, because it's the same one and still alive in.........
2009! Last year it was 10 years old! (Older than Kenzie!)
Throughout the eighties and most of the nineties we only had a 'real tree.' The aluminum flocked trees of the sixties had left me (and many other boomers) seeking for nature. My children were only going to have a pine -scented real (dead) Christmas tree.
The decades passed and the tradition was in place. No matter how cold it was or how expensive they were, somewere in the middle of December the whole family went out together... after dinner... to find... the perfect tree.
Then around 1999, I found a fake fold out the branches tree on sale at MICHAEL'S. It had hundreds of perfectly spaced white lights.... already attached! My husband was thrilled. No longer would he have to line up the strands searching for the burned out bulbs. No more dragging it to the curb and picking up crisy brown pine needles off the carpet. He was happy to be out of the game.
November 28th, 2010 ....and I don't have one single ornament hanging.
This could be fun. My plan is to wait maybe tens days or so ....then... boom....really get into the season. Hot chocolate ... go hunting for a tree....strand the lights.....hang the ornaments and bring back the long lost tradition... all the way to filling the stand with real water. (Do you really add sugar?)
Can you smell the pine?
These complex and busy days are a call back to simple times.
Happy weeks ahead.... to all....
Love Nana
Brody last December. He was 15 months.
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7 comments:
How cute family... <3
Complete reversal here. My husband and I became empty nesters this year and changed a 35 year tradition of a real tree with the purchase of a 9 foot pre-let beauty! Our adult kids were not happy with us at all!!!
They swear they are going to throw our fake tree on our annual Christmas tree bon fire. We will be fostering an old dry tree for this years event.
And like you, we had always waited until the end of the second week of December to put up the real tree. This year the fake one went up on Thanksgiving eve!
Not at all planned that way but our youngest came home for Thanksgiving for just a day and a half and won't be back until Christmas so up it went so she could participate.....with Christmas music playing.
Our collection of ornaments are what make the tree for me and even for our youngest daughter. By the time the tree was done she was really okay with our fake tree.
Thanks all for your comments. How funny Grandma Shelley that you are doing reverse.Next year I may do a complete turnaround back to the tree that comes in a box. Maybe I just need a new one. I think I just need a change! Enjoy your empty nest that will be filled for the holidays.
I'm with ya on the fake tree. I keep the lights and decorations on and cover it with a large plastic bag. It's so easy to set up the next year. I just plug it in, straighten up a few bent branches, and it's ready to go.
We have never had a fake tree, but I have been seriously tempted a few times the last few years. Like Grandma Shelley, my family will not be happy if we buy an artificial tree. But I am sure they will adjust. Traditions are made to be broken!
Have you ever seen those videos of real trees catching on fire? They are pretty scary. Of course, we are careful about turning off the lights, and we don't have the tree near any open flames. Still! The jury's still out about this year's tree, and the tree's still not up.
I love the last picture of Brody. It looks to me like he came for a visit, the weather got cold, and you had to improvise some wraps. Is that what happened? I would love to use the picture for one of my Wordless Wednesdays. Email me? grandparents.guide@about.com.
My Christmas tree tradition changed to reflect my downsize to a small cottage. Inspired by my new interest in Victorian Holiday House Tours, I started a live, but table top, tradition. It's easier for me to manage to put up alone and set on an antique crocheted tablecloth looks lovely. My four year old granddaughter thinks it is quite interesting since nobody else that she knows has one quite like it!
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