O Christmas Tree!

Oh, Christmas Tree
By Allan Olson
It finally happened. After being married for over 10 years, we finally turned the corner and got a real Christmas tree for the first time.
This came after years of having a variety of substitutes – mainly a small approximately three-foot artificial tree, to paper trees that the kids made and would hang on the wall for months, to a couple years with no tree of any sort.
Let’s not forget that this decision also came after several years of me complaining about the fake tree. Of course, the real reason we finally ventured into new territory and went with a real tree is the fact that we actually have space where we can put one up.
We moved from our bursting-at-the-seams mobile home and the fake and paper trees to our new “mansion” with a real tree.
I cut the tree down during the last weekend of deer season and dragged it all the way home with me. I’m sure I got a few funny looks on my two-hour drive.
The kids were all excited when I pulled in with the tree. Abigail decided to be the first to investigate it. The tree was leaning against our pull-behind trailer, and Abigail decided to climb in the back of the trailer and then climb the tree within the first hour after I got home.
On the day after Thanksgiving, I dragged this monstrosity of a tree into the house and up the stairs to be set up. That was pretty much the extent of my helping with the tree. I must have been a little delusional about how much room we had in the house to display the tree; it was at least four feet too tall for our living room.
With the aid of a Sawzall, my brother cut it to a more reasonable length (so that it could stand up straight), and soon it was ready to be decorated.
Later that evening, after the decorating was done, lights were turned on and our first live Christmas tree was proudly on display in our house.
Thankfully, neither Abigail nor any of her siblings have tried climbing it since it was brought in the house. However, they (especially Abigail) can’t seem to leave the decorations alone. More than one fragile decoration has fallen victim to our hardwood floor and ended up in little pieces (as you might expect, a few of those pieces have also ended up in a foot or two) over the last couple of weeks.
The remainder of the house has no decorations inside or out, aside from our little village collection. Those, too, have been rearranged and played with some by the kids, although not as much as last year, when Abigail would sit and “accidentally” move a piece or two and a few of the “Village People” ended up being amputees.
While this year the exterior decorations have been kept to a minimum, I’ve been assured that next year I will be hanging lights outside to brighten the place up for the Christmas season. Ho,Ho, Ho!

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