There are so many things I really love about Christmas. I don't know if there is a single one that I can pick, but of all the contenders, a Christmas tree... my Christmas tree... is right up there.
Despite the hassle, we get a fresh one every year. I understand the various reasons for getting an artificial one, from time to financial to environmental, but for this stage in our lives (and for as long as possible), it's a giant fire hazard in our living room all the way.
We usually get Noble Firs; aside from Douglas Firs, they're the most abundant in the tree farms around here. But they are the least fragrant of the live trees and the needles fall off really fast, even if the tree is still drinking water. This year, we went to a different tree farm and they had a species of tree that we had never tried before - Frazier. These trees are very fragrant and I could smell the piney goodness as we stood there in the open air with Dawn (we picked out our tree Thanksgiving weekend when she was visiting us). Also, the underside of the needles is a neat blue-green color. So we decided to try this kind of tree this year and brought home an 8 foot beauty.
So far it has not disappointed. While the smell has largely gone away, it smelled a lot more than a Noble ever did. Placing the lights was not as hard for Daniel (I can't do it because I get hives when I touch a lot of pine) and hanging the ornaments was really easy. There were a good number of thick branches that went out to the edge of the tree, so that the heavy ornaments, which I usually have to hang towards the center of the tree, can be easily seen.
I also love all our ornaments. We have some ornaments I bought in college when I had my first tree as an adult living in my own apartment. We have ornaments given by friends, collected around the time of our wedding (we got married in December, so got lots of ornaments as gifts), from trips, and interesting ones we've found on sale. Opening a box of ornaments is like opening a time capsule of sorts -- each ornament instantly whisks you away to a place, time, person, or any combination of the three.
For the last 12 years, we have been collecting church ornaments from Hallmark. It started by being an ornament with the year on it; we get at least one every season that has the year listed on it. Each church is so unique and they are lit from the inside by plugging a light into a strand on your tree. This is the last year in the series. It's just as well, too, because all 12 churches on the tree is a lot and I'm not sure we could fit many more.
Every minute I'm home, that tree is on. I love just sitting on the couch and staring at the decorated tree, even if the tv is on and I'm supposedly watching something. Despite the fire hazard, we keep our tree up until Epiphany, so we can have maximum Christmas. Here are a few pictures of this year's tree. Not promising there won't be more. Oh, that reminds me, I still have to add the candy canes!
That's at least 1,100 lights on there, folks. My cell phone camera did a weird thing with the lighting. The tree is indeed green and not pink.
This is the church ornament for this year. The window in the front and the doors are lit from within, too!
This is the first in a new series of ornaments. I think we'll use this for our yearly addition now that the churches are done.
Do you have a tree? Real or fake? Do you throw the ornaments on and move on to the next Christmas project, or do you painstakingly place each element?