And I can't resist the draw of a fresh, wonderfully aromatic fir. When my kids were small we went through a spell of having to put up an artificial tree. I found one at a church sale in the middle of summer for a great low price of $5, or maybe $10--it's been awhile--and, amazingly, all the pieces were accounted for. This was a satisfactory alternative to a real tree for some years because it gave us the opportunity to have the tree up early in December instead of waiting till Christmas Eve to lift a real tree from a closed Christmas tree lot.
What? Did you read that right? Yes you did. Well, hey, I learned that trick from my dad. He would wait till Christmas Eve, go out on some unexplained errand, and then appear back home after dark with a tree in hand and tell me with a chuckle that he found it by the side of the road. It wasn't until years later that I understood the significance of those words. And he was an upstanding state trooper. But even state troopers have lean years. So, when my kids and I were having our lean years we did some picking up of live trees by the side of the road until I found that artificial one. The artificial tree gave the kids immense enjoyment by being able to have a decorated tree in the living room for several weeks before Christmas instead of Christmas being thrust upon them at the last minute. When we used to get the tree on Christmas Eve, the excitement of the tree and the anticipation of opening presents the next day made it very hard to get them in bed at a decent hour. At least at a decent enough hour so that I could sit in the contemplative quiet of Christmas Eve with the shimmering tree before me and the gaily wrapped presents teasing me with their mysteries before the chaos of Christmas Morning hit.
The star of the tree this year is the bear pictured here. Found him at Kroger, a grocery store. Very appropriate, wouldn't you say?