This week鈥檚 Mercury online poll question is asking you if you put up a live or artificial Christmas tree this year? Or, no tree at all, for whatever reason.
For the past dozen years our household has chosen the latter and there isn鈥檛 a lot to be read into that dear diary. It鈥檚 a decision of convenience and efficiency for a small family.
I get to go where other people have dressed up their abode. I love it! And, yes, I鈥檓 lazy, but I won鈥檛 let that truth get in the way of my very logical argument for not constructing this annual Yule symbol.
The thought struck me three days ago, as I pondered the question of real tree versus artificial, that throughout all the years of having a Christmas tree, never once did we go the artificial route. And, I could not discern any particular reason for that decision. It鈥檚 just the way we rolled, when I was a kid or as an adult before we went sans tree. Granted, way back when I was a kid, there weren鈥檛 a lot of artificial trees around and those that were, weren鈥檛 very worthy.
Now we see spectacular versions that barely touch the realm of the reality of Christmas. I mean, c鈥檓on, nothing says Christmas more than a purple tree with tinges of orange and pink with self-starting superimposed lights.
You can figure out by the above statement, I do appreciate some of our Christmas traditions, including the insistence on referring to this particular holiday season, as Christmas. I really don鈥檛 believe anyone is offended.
So, nope, we have never had an artificial tree in our home.
Another thing I suddenly realized was that we always had tall Christmas trees because we happened to live in buildings with high ceilings.
One of my fondest memories of childhood were the two nights set aside for my sister and I to decorate our 10 foot plus tree. She, being nearly four years older, accepted the role of angel or star 鈥減lacer鈥� as the finishing touch because she was the only one of the two of us, responsible enough not to fall off a six-foot ladder.
We also got to select the tree, with assistance from the staff at the local hardware store where the trees were sold. When we picked late the selections were not great and the tree suffered more than a few significant branch gaps. But to us, that made it even more great and authentic as we set out to cover up its deficiencies with our wonderful cosmetic touches. Those generally consisted of gobs of tinsel and more than a few additional lights in front of the branch gaps.
What I loved about the scene, and only came to realize later, was the fact our parents never intervened to 鈥渢weak鈥� our attempts at designing greatness. If the decorating attempts left the tree unbalanced, or bereft of ornaments near the top, because I couldn鈥檛 reach that high, that鈥檚 how it stayed. We may have had the ugliest Christmas tree in our town, but it was always a tall one decorated by hand by two non-artistic kidlets and, on occasion, their friends.
The fact our cat liked to climb it, added to the fun and glory plus several re-decorating missions. Or, our dogs, Laddie or Mac, who were big canines, might knock it over while playing, as did I, at least once. We always blamed our 鈥渟tupid tree stand that isn鈥檛 very good.鈥�
So it may be the tree, or it may be what goes into and onto the tree and the season it represents, that actually counts.
