Christmas Trees

There is no shortage of Christmas trees here in Oregon. I see them everywhere, live ones growing all year round, including right outside my window in the room where my desktop computer sits. And since it's December, Christmas trees are popping up all over... in malls, big-box stores, nurseries and previously empty lots. They are inexpensive too, since they are so common here. Oregon is the nation's leader in Christmas tree production (the popular fir variety), harvesting and sales. We bought our Christmas tree this year that was cut a couple of days before we purchased it at an Christmas tree farm near my house.

I like Christmas trees, and evidently so do many others because the Christmas tree has been displayed in homes or town squares since sometime in the 15th century. There is something about a Christmas tree that is endearing and that jogs the memory to pleasant times. Every adult has Christmas tree memories from childhood that bring comfort at thought of them. I have quite a few of those, from my own childhood and from when Jane was small and I relieved Christmas a a child though her.

One benefit of having a Christmas tree is that kids look forward to picking out the tree. There's an excitement about going out to get a suitable tree for the house each year and it's not always a predictable a task. I remember one year when I was small that my mom decided to get one of those old style aluminum artificial trees that came in awful looking bright colors of red, blue, purple etc... This was a "second tree" because w always had to have a fresh cut tree in the living room, decorated in traditional style. The aluminum tree we got became a laughing stock for us and anyone who ventured into the den to see it. It was much like the ugly painting o vase a favored aunt gave to the homeowner, required to be on display but ridiculous in presence.

Thankfully, the aluminum colored assembled tree fad didn't last more than a few years as the current style of artificial trees replaced those and we never had another one of those. Though that tree did give us many chuckles and fond memories for me.

Another good thing about having a Christmas trees is getting it in the stand and decorating it in the house. Decorating with family and friends is a great way to get in the Christmas spirit, and once displayed a pretty Christmas tree can be a relaxing presence for a home. What I have always liked looking at on a Christmas tree are special ornaments. I still have some of my mom's childhood wood made and hand painted ornaments. They create a holiday link to my mother with every glance of them, exploding with stories or her, my dad and brother and I in those long ago lost Christmas moments. I tried to recreate a similar Christmas ornament link for my daughter Jane.

For many years when she was small I bought and had engraved a yearly Christmas ornament that would tell a story of each Christmas of her youth. I think she has no appreciation of this now, but when a parent herself will one day re discover the ornaments and put them on her own tree for her own family.

The Christmas tree is the unifying symbol of Christmas. Those who hate Christmas never have a tree and those who think they are "too old for Christmas" often don't put up one either. But it seems that the most enthusiastic of Christmas celebrators not only have trees up and decorated, but also put in place the earliest. They show their love for Christmas by their care for and enjoyment of their tree. And when Christmas is over and the tree must be disassembled, there is a tint of sadness that it must be removed from the house and carted to disposal. For to remove the tree is to also remove the joy and happiness which it provided at Christmas time