January 6 is actually Take Out The Tree Day for some people. Although the timing has always confused me a bit.
Many leave their trees until Epiphany which is today. It’s also Twelfth Night, if you’re doing the Twelve Days of Christmas, although twelve drummers drumming seems a bit over the top.
But the thing that confuses me is this. If you take you tree out on January 6, you are actually taking it out the day before Orthodox Christmas. You should leave your tree up until at least Christmas, I would think, which would be until January 7
My wife has always insisted on leaving the tree up until January 8. That would be… what… old Boxing Day? I don’t know. All I know is the tree stays until January 8. Doing what I’m told is much easier than trying to figure out a combination of traditions and calendars.
There have been years when we have neglected sufficient water for the tree, which has made January 8 the day when we coat most of the house in fir needles which fall off the tree as it is pulled out through the doors.
That makes January 9 buy a new vacuum day, because we burned the old one out in an attempt to suck up all the needles. And it is only an attempt, because if you search hard enough you may still find them in June. Or later.
All I know is, it’s time for the tree to go. The cats will have to find a new toy.
