Well I was over reading Jens page, and came across a link to this... After picking myself up off the floor once I was done laughing, I started thinking about my own holiday realities...
It starts off like so many others at Thanksgiving... I have a pretty small family, so its nice... I'm not a huge fan of meals with 20 people, so our little group of 5 is just about right... Its after that that the silliness starts... 4 years ago, my sister and I were both too busy to go with my parents to pick out the family christmas tree... We get a 12' tall tree, so it tends to be a bit of a chore to find a nice one in that height, that isn't expensive... (my dad still thinks that a 12' tree should only cost $20.00... but that's a story for another time...) So anyway, they came home with a pretty looking tree, but it had one odd thing about it. The species of the tree was called Con-Color... This sure isn't something I'd heard of before, and I work with wood for a living, but I said hey, fine, its a christmas tree, and it looks good... Well when you bring one of these suckers into your house, and it gets warm, from both the heat, and the big lights we use (non of those little bitty lights for me thank you) it smells like a citrus grove... It took me a while to figure out what was going on, I figured my mom was doing something with fruit first... Then I thought I'd had a few too many gin and tonics with lime... But no, it was the tree... Talk about a strange atmosphere for the season... So it was at that point that my sister and I snapped... We decided that, no matter how far we had to go, or how much it cost, we were going to get the trees from now on, and they would be nothing but Balsam Firs... (they're not sharp, they smell good, and don't drop needles much)
Well we started right off, and found that you simply can not find that height tree around here... You can't find them in eastern Pennsylvania... Not in southern NY state... Where the hell do you have to go to get these things?... Well my sister jumpped online, and found a bunch of farms that will let you cut your own, and they advertise tall trees... Where are these farms?... Wait for it... Maine... There were a couple in New Hampshire too, but they said they only had a few tall trees... So now, one week after thanksgiving every year, my sister and I jump in my truck, and drive to Maine to buy trees... That's 6 hours from my parents house, and my sister and I both live an hour from them in the wrong direction... Yep... Nuts... I know... It is however the one thing my sister and I do together every year now, and its actually kinda fun... Plus as a side trip, we stop by L.L. Bean while we're up there... By the time we're done, the 4 trees we get cost around $50 each... The tree itself is only $20, but then you add fuel, and the hotel room for a night, and it adds up to that... Not too bad actually for the tall trees we get, and they're fresh...
The trees come home, and spend another 3 hours dropping them off to my parents, my sister, my business partner, and my place... There they sit outdoors, waiting for a little while at most of the houses... I put mine up the next day, so I get almost a full month to enjoy the tree... My sister, and parents don't put theirs up untill after the 18th, which is my sister's birthday, so that she doesn't feel like her birthday is a minor afterthought to the holidays... (she's 32 this year, you'd think she'd be beyond this by now... but that's a different tale too...)
Usually on the 19th or 20th, I go up to my parents, and put the tree up in the stand, and do the lights... If my sister can come up then too, then we'll do the whole tree, but my part of the tree is set up, and lights mostly... I also usually do the very high ornaments too since I'm the odd one in the family that doesn't hate heights... By the 22nd, the tree is usually done... (wouldn't want to cut it too close would we)
Somewhere in the month, my dad puts out the lawn decorations... Yes, we're one of those houses... We have a real sleigh that goes on the front lawn, with all the reigndeer harnessed to it... We've got a manger, wise men, etc... We've got a group of carolers... We don't do lights on the house, but we do have lights on the display... Its a bit much at times, but its still nice, and its just part of what "home" is for me during the holidays... (I live in an apartment, so I just do pine ropeing around my bannisters and posts, plus a wreath on the door)
That's the insanity of my holiday season... I'll do the goofy meal we have on Christmas eve later in the month... I need to get a hold of the propper order of courses, and names first...
Happy Holidays!
Posted by Backstage at November 30, 2003 06:25 PM