In the spirit of the holiday season, the way back machine takes us back about ten years to my parent's place. It had always been a tradition in my family that the tree was a real one; fake trees need not apply. Of course, when the purchaser of said tree is the master negotiator (my dad), some of the trees over the years were, let's say, original. My mom would always work her magic, though, in getting the tree up to Christmas standards. Whether it was moving the bald side of the tree to the corner or jimmy-rigging the tree holder to accept the crooked stump where it actually looked straight, she had a gift. That all changed one chilly December evening, however.
In came the tree that the master negotiator had purchased with one of the more impressive stump angles that I had seen in quite some time. Up went the tree and was decorated as impressive as ever. The retired couple went to bed that night only to be awoken in the wee hours of the morning by the sound of ornaments falling as down went the tree! Not to be denied, the negotiator's wife cleaned the damage, got the tree upright and Christmas was on again! It was short lived, however, as the tree took a second fall a little while later. And that, my friends, was the end of real Christmas tree tradition in my family. The next time I was over to the house, it was fake green on!. I wasn't there to see the act but I'll bet my mom threw that crooked tree to the curb with quite a vengeance that winter day.
Happy Holidays
Trail Head
