The first week of December was special when I was a kid because that is when the Christmas tree usually went up. I’m not a Christian and I could care less about all the religous hoo ha, but I do like blinky lights and a Christmas tree (or Yule Tree or whatever you want to call it) is a great excuse for that.
The tree didn’t always go up the first week of December because sometimes we couldn’t afford one, or we couldn’t get a ride to get one that week. My mom was single and blind so we obviously didn’t have a vehicle to get a tree home from the lot. My mom always insisted on having a “real” tree until the year the live tree caught fire and then it was always artificial after that. Having your home burn down puts an end to some traditions.
Anyhow, in those years where the tree didn’t burn our home down, an unspoken rule was that if the tree went up a week late it stayed up a week late. A tree that went up on December 7th came down on January 7th or a bit after, but never before. The tree always stayed up for four weeks or more. That was how my gran did it, my Uncle John did it, and my mom did it.
We got our own tree up on the 15th this year, which is the start of the third week of the month. I have had one hell of a mental itch because of this as it is breaking childhood rules that are fairly baked into me by now. My wife likes to take the tree down like clockwork right after New Year’s and that will not do this year. I am owed two extra weeks of the Christmas tree according to the traditions from my side of the family. Fingers are crossed that I will at least get an extra week of the tree this year come January to make up for the late start.
Samsung Galaxy 23 Ultra again. ‘Tis the season.
