Among my circle of friends, there are varying opinions as to the “best” kind of Christmas tree. One of my friends can’t bear to cut down any living thing and every year, creates a Christmas tree from dead branches that she wires together to make a tree shape. She’s an incredible artist and her tree is always stunningly beautiful – and original.
Another friend, living in France, has a store-bought tree. It’s spiral shaped and collapses down to fit into a pizza box. This tree goes up and down as easily as a yo yo.
I think about this tree every year as Jack and I begin our annual discussion about our own tree. We both love our trees and have had some epic Christmas trees in our years together. And, we are in total agreement as to the kind – we are Frasier Fir fans and nothing else will do.
Where the discussion gets interesting is when we begin to talk about size. Jack, I think, would move all the furniture out of the house to get a bigger and bigger tree. I’m content with something that will at least fit through the front door. Size to me isn’t as important as all the things that go on it.
Our second “discussion” is about lights. Jack (oh horror!) suggested net lights. I thought he was surely kidding the first time he suggested it but after twenty years, I’m convinced that without me, our beloved Christmas tree would be a tangled mass of wires. Net lights indeed! Next he’ll be suggesting tinsel.
Instead, the lights go on one strand at a time and I use as many strands as it can possibly hold. (This year Jack only had to go back to purchase more lights three times!) And after the lights, of course the ornaments. Our ornaments include some fairly strange but totally beloved items. I’ve come to learn that you can hang all kinds of things on a tree and call them “ornaments.” Our collection now spans generations and is a wonderful illustration of melded families and shared memories.
Legend tells us that the first Christmas tree was created in Germany in the 16th century when a theologian was walking home late one night and saw the stars twinkling through the branches of the evergreen trees. He decided to try to recreate this at home and cut down a tree and used candles to mimic the stars. And the rest is history that is repeated all over the world, every year.
The Christmas tree is the center of our celebration and when I think of our large and diverse family, I picture us gathered around the tree, missing the ones who aren’t with us, laughing and loving and hugging as we open gifts and share this wonderful time together. And I guess, really, even with net lights, our tree would be a wonderful backdrop for all this love.