Oddly enough, it wasn't until I moved to sunny, often tropical Southern California that I had a live tree for Christmas. Indeed, even during holidays of family illnesses and hardships, a Christmas tree was always prominent in my life. And, finally, on my own in Los Angeles, I was able to complete the Yuletide picture. With the wonderful evergreen smells that permeate your home. And those freakin' pine needles that are impossible to vacuum up off a carpet.
Growing up in the snowy and cold Northeast where the mood is ideal, I should have had the Norman Rockwell holiday season. But, my parents came from an era where quicker was better. And, yes, they must have known how annoying those pine needles were, because they never even bothered to try a real tree. For the early years of my youth, our tree was artificial. And you had to put the damn thing together. Branch H goes into Hole H. You know the drill. It was less about family bonding and more about trying to follow the diagram.
And then there were the limitations on the tree decorations. We had some that were traditional and they were only retired when they were broken. And, even then. My mother had these two elf dolls that she always loved to have guard our tree. By the time I was in the eighth grade, the elves looked like they had been in a gang fight in Bed Stuy. And no glass ornament was retired unless it drew blood on your hands.
But, over time, even this process needed to be streamlined by my parents. So, ingeniously, they decided not to take down the tree after Christmas. Instead, my father would put two plastic garbage bags over them and then take it up to a corner of the attic. The next December, when you wanted to decorate for Christmas, you would simply remove the trash bags and be done in five minutes. Cooking a TV dinner was more complicated.
And, believe me, they did their share of that, too.
Yep, I have a real live Christmas tree now. And the aroma is terrific!
Dinner last night: Grilled bratwurst and pickled beet salad.
4 comments:
In the 1960's, my aunt and uncle didn't just have a fake tree, they had a silver fake tree. It came ut of the box and got assembled. Natural it was not. Supposedly, these silver trees are now hip. Go figure.
As a young boy growing up in Sunnyside, Queens, I loved going to the “city” during the Christmas season. My parents had to pull me away from the Lionel train displays at Macy’s, Gimbels and the Lionel Train store. I was eight years old when Santa gave me a Lionel train set, which I still have. It was my best childhood Christmas. Long after my father died, my mother told me that Dad brought home $60 a week and the train set cost $40. Two years ago, I returned to my childhood passion and commenced building a model HO railroad layout. I have spent nearly a thousand times more than the original Lionel’s.
Keep the child inside you happy, my very best for the Holidays,
John J. Gudelanis
Thank you, Network Radio Prince, for visiting the blog. I got your card and I was so happy that the health news about your brother is better!
Happy holidays and stay well.
Christmas trees will always be special regardless of their composition. We had a real tree for years until my Dad got tired of driving all over town and haggling a reasonable price for a decent tree. Switching to a fake tree made life easier especially after he stopped driving but the fresh pine smell was gone. One year we tried some spray on goop that in a later life must have been the inspiration for the first car freshener.
By the way, are you available to come on by for a visit or dinner. We'd like to have your over.
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