Oh, Tannenbaum!

Ah, it's finally beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The weather has turned cold enough that we can light a fire in the fireplace every night without the need of stripping down to a tee shirt and shorts, a hot toddy is practically de rigeur, and the smell of our decorated Douglas Fir is like a soothing balm to the soul. Life is good.

Last week we went out and found the perfect tree to place in the picture window of our living room. Bringing the tree home, and decorating it the next day was definitely a Frank Capra moment. That's my son Jack helping me offload the tree...with VIVI close by, thinking she's just gotten the mother of all chew toys.

I have to say that I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to a Christmas tree. There are those who enjoy flocked trees...you know, the ones sprayed white with some faux-snow concoction. While Amie and I do miss a White Christmas, we don't miss it enough to be that gaudy...or to deal with the mess a flocked tree has got to cause when you're taking it down.

And, speaking of flocked trees, our local Christmas tree lot had flocked trees available in many colors other than white. Go figure. This one was my favorite. Now, honestly, who would want a putrid yellow Christmas tree in their house?! Is this really a popular choice these days? I could just imagine some drunk relative taking one look at this tree and thinking, "I wonder if that's made of Colby or Cheddar? Either way, screw it...I'm hungry!"

Perhaps I have relatives more dangerous than yours?

There were also (as you might be able to discern in the photo) a mint green and pastel pink-flocked tree. Hmmm. I guess it takes all kinds to make a world, huh?

Nope, for us it's just a 'plain Jane' Douglas Fir. It looks beautiful at night...both from my living room couch and from the front lawn.

I'm going to throw another log on the fire and pour a glass of something warming. Hope you will do likewise.
If you want to know about my favorite Christmas presents of all time, check out what I wrote last year... here, here, here, here and here. Also, this is pretty funny.