Following the 9th Day's Greenery, we continue the hanging of the greens with a focus on Christmas trees and their ornaments. Since Victorian times, trees have been the centerpiece of Christmas decor, but we've dialed the complexity of our trees up and down, based on life.
This year, our Christmas trees were a pair of tiny cypresses (more like Charlie Brown trees!). (You'll have to look hard to see them, above the keyboard on the right and left.) Our family shows a certain amount of flexibility on having Christmas trees--we have larger trees most years but smaller ones when it makes sense. This year was complicated by having 2 new cats, as well as 2 weeks with my husband directing and acting in Scrooge, the Musical.
One year, I wrote this, to the tune of "O Tannebaum":
O Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, we cannot have a Christmas tree. [Repeat.] Can't stop the cats, to save our lives, then 2 weeks of The Preachers Wife. O Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, next year we'll have 3 Christmas trees.
One year when we went to Disney at Christmas was another year to pare down the Christmas tree traditions. We made any number of adjustments when our kids were small, to keep our toddlers from pulling down a tree onto themselves...from having only a small decorated tree blocked off behind the sofa, to moving a large one into our dining room. And one year, when the cats crashed a 10 ft live tree, our tree was the chunk off the top of the tree, that had broken off.
It's the 10th day of Christmas, and we haven't taken our cypress Christmas trees down yet. That will involve taking them outside and planting them. Hopefully they'll live for years to come--a rather neat outcome. From 2 scrawny trees, to what would hopefully be beautiful outdoor cypresses.
In the meantime, here are some of our other Christmas tree memories during the years. Enjoy!
2023, Dec. 13 - A Healthy Balanced Dinner features our newest blown glass food ornaments.
2022, Nov. 26 - Our Christmas Trees 🎄 highlights my history as a retail Christmas tree designer, and a new strand of LCD lights.
2022, Nov. 26 - The year none of the lights worked
2021, Dec. 31 - The year of the Christmas lights gradually failing
2021, Dec. 23 - This is our children's heirloom ornament tree, with ornaments we've all made through the years
2020, Dec. 22 - The year the drumsticks grew into a Christmas tree
2018, Dec. 8 - Fruit, Veggie & Edibles has a video of decades of blown glass ornaments, many from Germany.
2012, Dec. 12 - Away from home, The Upside Down Christmas tree at Udder Choice in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.
MORE ornaments, see The 11th day of Christmas: Ornaments, cont'd
🎄. 🌲. 🎄. 🌲. 🎄. 🌲. 🎄.