There is something very adult about buying a Christmas tree for your family. -- deciding how much you are willing to pay; having to tell the man at the lot that yes, the noble firs are indeed lovely, but we just can't spend $50 on a tree, and could we please see the one advertised for $14....
So, you'd like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree? the guy says, a bit disappointed in us, and points over to a small pallet of about 4 humble trees.
Absolutely we do!
My Christmas childhood memories are pretty potent, and I honestly don't remember our trees being anything less than perfect, although looking back now, I would bet everything I own that my lovely wonderful [frugal] father and mother also refused to shell out a small fortune for our tree each year. Often times my family was super clever, and bought a live tree in a pot, and we just used that for a few years, hauling it in from the yard, until it finally got too big to haul.
But it was always perfect, even if not perfectly Christmas tree shaped.
I do remember my dad lopping off one or two extra zealous branches that had grown from the year before, and those, I think, my mom usually ended up using as decoration on the mantle around the Swedish horses and Christmas goats.
So, we got the $14 tree this year, and guess what..... it's lovely! Violet thinks it's the most amazing thing she has ever seen; and really it is perfect, and has been so much fun. It is a Douglas Fir, which apparently is the poor man's Christmas tree and a lesser form of foliage than the noble grand blue whatevers that will run you a pretty penny. Christmas snobbery is not a welcome guest at our table.
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| Tree topper, chosen by Violet O. |
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