Ok, so all you folks who decorate your houses on Thanksgiving weekend will laugh, but I have made an important discovery today. I usually get my tree later in the month (sometime between the 12th and the 19th)—I used to do this in Chicago so the tree would last longer into January. Now I usually take it down the first weekend in January (while Susan is at work counting the ballots for the annual election of officers for the society she runs) to get in the recycling in time. so it doesn’t really matter.
So tonight I went to a Delancey Street lot (it’s run by a drug-recovery nonprofit, so the profits go to a good cause) to look for a tree. Lo and behold, there were lots of good trees—I picked the third one I was attracted to and the first one I even pulled out of the stand. Took about 15 minutes from start to finish, including their tieing it on my (old) car.
So we have a nice 5-6 foot Noble fir, sitting on the side of the house in a big tub of water, probably until the weekend. . .
Duh, I don’t know why it never occurred to me that there would be a better selection of trees earlier in the season. . . .
And now, you all know that we chose a “real” tree for one more year. . .
For some reason it reminds me of the Christmas of 1972 or 3, when Charlene and I had our apartment on Harper in Chicago. Bob Shirrell and I had a date to go get the tree for the apt on Friday night after work (in the city, you carry the tree home by hand, so it helps to have more than one person). On Thursday and Friday morning we had had one of those warm wet sloshy snows and then the temperature plummeted. It was a total slip and slide to get to the lot, and it was really cold--13 below. The lot was only about 2 blocks from the apt., but even so, by the time we got the tree home, we were exhausted and frozen. So that night we just stuck it in a bucket and tied a couple cords to the top and nailed them to the picture molding so the cat wouldn't tip it over. Then, the next day when Charlene and I decorated it, we were too lazy to pull it out and put it in the stand, so we just left it in the bucket the whole season.
Anyone else would have decided to wait a few days til the weather improved before buying the tree, but I just HAD to have one. . .
Love you all, Sandra
So tonight I went to a Delancey Street lot (it’s run by a drug-recovery nonprofit, so the profits go to a good cause) to look for a tree. Lo and behold, there were lots of good trees—I picked the third one I was attracted to and the first one I even pulled out of the stand. Took about 15 minutes from start to finish, including their tieing it on my (old) car.
So we have a nice 5-6 foot Noble fir, sitting on the side of the house in a big tub of water, probably until the weekend. . .
Duh, I don’t know why it never occurred to me that there would be a better selection of trees earlier in the season. . . .
And now, you all know that we chose a “real” tree for one more year. . .
For some reason it reminds me of the Christmas of 1972 or 3, when Charlene and I had our apartment on Harper in Chicago. Bob Shirrell and I had a date to go get the tree for the apt on Friday night after work (in the city, you carry the tree home by hand, so it helps to have more than one person). On Thursday and Friday morning we had had one of those warm wet sloshy snows and then the temperature plummeted. It was a total slip and slide to get to the lot, and it was really cold--13 below. The lot was only about 2 blocks from the apt., but even so, by the time we got the tree home, we were exhausted and frozen. So that night we just stuck it in a bucket and tied a couple cords to the top and nailed them to the picture molding so the cat wouldn't tip it over. Then, the next day when Charlene and I decorated it, we were too lazy to pull it out and put it in the stand, so we just left it in the bucket the whole season.
Anyone else would have decided to wait a few days til the weather improved before buying the tree, but I just HAD to have one. . .
Love you all, Sandra
posted by jed-laura | 7:58 PM
3 Comments:
Thanks for sharing! I think that is why you have a hard time switching over to a fake tree. Somehow, it takes away the nostalgic/sentimental magic of it all.
That's exactly one of the purposes of the family Christmas blog - to share Christmas memories of the past.
Much Love, Paul
I am just picturing the slipping and sliding in the sub-zero temperatures...it reminds me of a scene from the movie While You Were Sleeping. I am glad it went better this year. :)
Love, Earlene
Glad the Fake Vs. Real tree debate is over now for you this season. I'm sure someday we will get a real tree once our kids/housing situation can handle it a little better. Hope your week goes well -
-Jed
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