I will admit. I was always a bit of a tree snob. I had to have a real tree. No other tree would do.
For a while, when I was younger, my family got into using pine trees for Christmas. You need a really bushy pine. And even with that, you can only hang about six ornaments. And they can be really big ornaments, since pine has a lot of space between branches. But, like most festive bushes, once they are decorated, they look pretty good.
For those who are fans of the artificial tree, I won’t judge you. There are some nice ones out there, and people can have allergies. Or maybe they want to leave the tree up until Easter. There are lots of reasons to go with artificial trees.
And I have to admit… last year, I went with a fake tree.
This was not by choice. I ran out of time. Or, more precisely, out of tree options.
I leave the tree until fairly late. usually, I wait until the last weekend before Christmas. then, put the tree up and enjoy.
Last year, when I went out to look for a tree, there were none. All trees had packed up and gone home. The trees had followed Elvis and left the building.
I could have gone on a tree search. A few years ago, my nieces proudly displayed their “ditch tree”. The had cut it in a roadside ditch, although they were a bit concerned about the fact that it smelled a bit funny. Which allowed me to show off my tree knowledge by telling them they had a spruce, and explain how to tell the difference. But since I know the difference, I could have chased down a ditch tree somewhere.
Or better yet, I know where trees live. I have even walked past trees from time to time and remarked that a certain tree would make a good Christmas tree. Some of these are even my trees, so I wouldn’t have to be concerned about bail money after being picked up for tree stealing.
But I was short on time and had a million things to do and it was the Saturday before Christmas and something green had better appear in that corner of the living room like right away. So I bought a fake tree.
It took some work, but it did take shape. And it wasn’t totally horrible. And if I want to leave it up until Easter, I can.
In fact, I did suggest just leaving it decorated. That didn’t go over well. I suggested just covering it with a sheet and leaving it in the corner until this year. The cat thought that was a great idea. But the cat and I were outvoted on that one.
So once again, I have a choice. Real or fake? Fake may win again. Since I know exactly where to find one. There may even be some decorations still on it.
