I'll Have a Green Christmas

Nope, you’re not even close. Hard to believe, but I’m not about to talk snow. I finally made one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make. This year we will be greening up Christmas with an artificial tree. The fact that our last few trees had curvy trunks encouraged my choice. Let me start way back.

Forty years ago Steve and I celebrated our first Christmas together in our own home. For the first two years of our married lives, we lived in a small cottage with three rooms and a bathroom. A large room across the back became our bedroom and den. I painted the paneled cabinet doors in the fairly large kitchen with a combination of yellow, orange and avocado enamel paint – it was the 70’s after all. Our tiny living room had space for only a small love seat and a drop-leaf table, closed and pushed against the wall.

Excited to decorate our home for our first Christmas, we drove to the Kroger store to check out the fresh trees there. That valuable lesson of “everything looks larger once you get it in the house” was one I learned the hard way. We found a beautiful tree with an amazingly large trunk. We paid for it in a fever pitch of excitement and Steve dragged it to the car – carrying was not an option. The tree was not going to fit either in our car or on the top of it. I called my Aunt Dorothy who rescued us in her station wagon.

Several strings of white lights, a new larger tree stand and dozens of blue ornaments later, Steve and I sat on the floor at the base of our tree, admiring our work. The sofa and table had been relocated to the den and kitchen. The tree was huge, beautiful and I was hooked. Then and there I made an unconscious decision that all our Christmas trees would push the boundaries of space and patience.

Over the years we sawed, cut off limbs, replaced bent tree stands and bought more lights; but our trees were always the focal point of our home from Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day.

Once the kids were able to walk, our most meaningful holiday tradition became going to the woods or to tree farms to get our tree. Every year found us on a horse- or tractor-pulled wagon riding out to fields of beautifully pruned Scotch pines or fir trees. And every year my insurance costs rose as I stood on chairs or step-ladders to lean precariously into the tree to decorate the top.

I remember the year our tradition began to go awry. The tree-gathering trip was as fun as always; but why, oh why did we not see that deep curve in the spine of our lovely Scotch pine? Somehow we managed to get it into the tree stand and keep it up through the holidays, but the trend was set.

By this time the kids were grown and we were trooping through the trees and playing hide-and-seek with kids and grandchildren. The next year our usual tree farm was “catching its breath” and closed for the year and we found another one online – the beginning of the end. We drove into the next county and piled out of the cars (by now we were transporting two trees) and into the fields. Nothing; there was nothing that appealed to us and I began to get an uneasy feeling that our tradition was leaving us. We separated and each family drove to lots to pick out trees.

That particular Christmas, the tree was so curvy (and at this point we were trying to watch for this!), it kept falling. We finally had to undecorate it and get another tree. The next year was pretty much a repeat and I was beginning to yearn for a tall, straight tree that I could count on standing.

The next year we had moved to South Carolina and were still in many boxes because we were having work done on the house. I bought a little live Norfolk Island pine and decorated it; but Christmas was not the same.

Over the spring and summer months of this past year, I have been struggling with the artificial tree decision. Today I ordered the tree and I’m excited! Because I believe we can see any circumstance through the glasses we choose to wear. And today, I’m wearing my “this will be a beautiful, tall, straight tree and you will never again have to struggle with lights” glasses. I could easily go the other direction with my mood but Steve and I have way too much to look forward to.

However, cautious optimism is the phrase of the day. Though I do have a nice, sturdy stepstool, I am getting older; and I ordered a 7 ½ foot tree. The way I see it, that was a compromise. We have cathedral ceilings and I could have gone for the 12 foot one.