Memories of Christmas past - It's all about the smell.
I've made a decision. I'm buying a fake tree. I want to decorate the tree the day after Thanksgiving and leave it up until Epiphany (January 6th). That doesn't work well with a live tree. They die and lose their needles which get stuck in the rug for the next 12 months. Then the tree lays in the front yard until Spring waiting for a proper disposal. I like Christmas decorations too much to have them displayed for only one week. I think this solution will eliminate at least two fights in our house, 1) who is going to buy the tree and 2) who is going to put the lights on it. I have found that any arguments that can be eliminated is a good thing. So this is the answer.
The only problem with getting a fake tree is not having the smell of the tree in your house. After all, Christmas memories are all about the smell. Whenever I smell a pine tree, or a nice blue spruce, I immediately think of my childhood Christmases. We celebrated Christmas every year at my Grandma's house. We'd come into the house to the smell of oyster stew simmering on the stove, really hot coffee right beside it and the smell of the Christmas tree coming from the living room. The tree sat in the corner of her living room close to the oil burning stove. It was always the Charlie Brown kind - the kind you could see through. There was lots of tinsel and decorations - even some handmade styrofoam balls with rick-rack and sequins glued on. There were no streaming bows or fake bird nests tucked in the branches. I imagine it is the same kind of tree Martha Stewart looked at as a kid. Makes you wonder where she got all those high falootin' decorating ideas from.
Christmas trees don't smell like they did when I was a kid. I suppose they have been bred to be fire retardant. Perhaps it is because we don't display them right next to the oil burning stove where it would heat up the sap. Hence, the fire retardant breeding program mentioned above. A lot of things change as we grow older, I suppose. I'll use that line on the kids when they bellyache about not having a real tree next year. Think it will work?
The only problem with getting a fake tree is not having the smell of the tree in your house. After all, Christmas memories are all about the smell. Whenever I smell a pine tree, or a nice blue spruce, I immediately think of my childhood Christmases. We celebrated Christmas every year at my Grandma's house. We'd come into the house to the smell of oyster stew simmering on the stove, really hot coffee right beside it and the smell of the Christmas tree coming from the living room. The tree sat in the corner of her living room close to the oil burning stove. It was always the Charlie Brown kind - the kind you could see through. There was lots of tinsel and decorations - even some handmade styrofoam balls with rick-rack and sequins glued on. There were no streaming bows or fake bird nests tucked in the branches. I imagine it is the same kind of tree Martha Stewart looked at as a kid. Makes you wonder where she got all those high falootin' decorating ideas from.
Christmas trees don't smell like they did when I was a kid. I suppose they have been bred to be fire retardant. Perhaps it is because we don't display them right next to the oil burning stove where it would heat up the sap. Hence, the fire retardant breeding program mentioned above. A lot of things change as we grow older, I suppose. I'll use that line on the kids when they bellyache about not having a real tree next year. Think it will work?
posted by Deb at 8:08 AM
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