O, how the Christmas traditions change.
We are in the process of putting up the Christmas tree. This is a procedure that has radically changed over the years, but it always starts with procuring the tree.
Flash back 30 years. We would begin by loading the children and the dog into our station wagon and head out to a “cut your own” lot. When we arrived at the lot we would troupe all over looking for just the right tree. One of the big issues was who got to carry the saw. After much walking, looking and haggling we would settle on a tree. The next big issue was, “Who gets down on the ground and cuts the tree.” It was a great day when I was able to pass that to my son. For years he kept trying to pass it to his sister. I can’t remember if he was ever successful. Then the kids really paid off. They had the task of carrying the tree back to the entrance. We would then tie the tree on and head home, after paying, of course.
Today. My wife goes out and comes back with a tree on the roof of our SUV with the stand already secured to the trunk. Cool. The kids are still out of state. We graduated to buying a pre-cut tree soon after they left. Now I don’t even have to go along to hold them up and twirl them for inspection. It saves a lot of time and my opinion was not important anyway. My job was to get it off the top of the tree and into the house. I still got to twirl it but again my opinion was not important. It is just not important in even lesser ways. I was told to get it into the house without leaving any pine needles on the ground. Right. Then I was told to clean up the pine needles on the ground. That is a tradition that has never changed.
Next step is the Paying for the Tree.
To be continued, (I hope)....
homo unius libri
Ours comes from the attic.
ReplyDeleteHow do you get them to grow in the dark?
DeleteGrace and peace.