O Christmas Tree

It seemed during the Christmas 2010 season our tree was on its side more than it was upright. It felt cursed.

This year we decided to take no chances. We bought a new tree stand. We went to a different place to buy our tree. I left it standing for a week before I put the lights on it. I left it alone a few more days before attempting to put ornaments on it. After placing a few dozen ornaments on the tree, when I wasn't even touching it, I noticed it falling away from me.

As Yogi Berra would say "it was deja vu all over again."

I snapped a picture and called Don.

Let's back track a bit.

For nearly 20 years we bought a tree from a local tree farm. Even after he stopped his tree farm business, he still sold to his regulars for a few more years. We never had any troubles with his trees. He laughed as Don carried one of his trees home on the back of his bike saying "now I've seen everything."

Last year he announced he was finished for good. We had to respect that. Still, though, we like the experience of cutting our own tree and Don likes hauling it home on the back of his bike.

We found a tree farm around the corner from our house on Keefe Road. Trouble was, they only sell trees a day or two a year -- about two weeks after we normally buy our tree. We waited, and purchased from them, happy to support a local business.

Don took the tree home on the back of his bike. Ashley and I walked home. Yes, it was that close.

Then the trouble started.

I decorated the tree as I've done for many years. As I finished, I went to move the tree. I should have moved it from the base, but I didn't.

I then heard CRACK. Tiiiimmmmbbbeeeerr.... down went the tree.

We propped it up. The stand was broken. It is the middle of December. We shoved scooped up the ornaments that had fallen. Don patched the ornaments together. He glued the stand together, too.

That only lasted about 5 minutes before Tiiimmmmbbbbeeeerrr!

Don found a stand at Wal-Mart, but it was the old-style stand where you have to adjust each of the sides and pray it stands up. It didn't.

We then shopped where most 21st century people shop at some time or other -- eBay.

As luck would have it, eBay had our model stand (the PivotPoint) available from a seller in Lawrenceville, NJ. What are the chances? There was already a bid on it, so we patiently waited and won the bid. The seller even delivered it to my door. The irony was he tried to sell it a week earlier for a Buy It Now price we would have gladly paid, but no one bid on it. That ended on a Saturday, and the tree stand broke for the first time on Sunday.

Ahh... this is it!

No.

Then we decided to put the tree with the old cap into the new base. Well, the old cap was slightly bigger than the new base. Now the cap was jammed in the new base. We took the tree out. It was lying on its side on the living room floor. The old cap was still jammed into the new base in a way Don was afraid would crack it.

I think we finally had it upright,secure and decorated by December 20. I was never so happy to take a tree down as I was when we took that one down.

At least this time our troubles started in November. We still have a chance to buy a fake tree.

When someone asks why we don't have a "real" tree, I'll just point them to this article.

Merry Christmas! May your trees all be upright.