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Brits are lucky that they had the chance to develop a plethora of gauzy, happy traditions over many many hundreds of years. Seems like our mere couple hundred years is going to be washed away by a tsunami of progressive correctness stalinism that would make Pol Pot tear up with envy.

Yes, it’s gray, drab and desolate here. Why do you ask?

What type of tree do y’all put up? Fir, pine or something else. I finally had to bow to reality and get a fake tree this year. Just can’t wrassel with one by myself anymore.

My goal this year was to decorate my Christmas tree. Last chemo treatment was Dec 9th. Not only did I decorate it, I put it up by myself, too!

1582? Queen Elizabeth agreed to switching to the Gregorian calendar?

I’m surprised your cats havent taken down your tree for you. 🙂

1582?

Well, it’s an old house so the old rules apply. Remember they have ‘witch marks,’ in the rafters there at Badger House, which obviously means that they have spirits in residence. I don’t know about you, but I have trouble explaining the breakfast will be late because of Daylight Savings Time to my cat; I certainly wouldn’t want to try explaining that there’s a perfectly good reason that the Christmas Tree is coming down eleven days early to a ghost!

Many years ago we lived next door to a rental house; a young couple lived there. He appeared to be Muslim – hat and long beard. But – on Sundays he’d hang out in the driveway (between their house and ours) with his buddies, drinking beer and revving the motor of his junky old car. (I’m sure there was a good reason.) We never got to know them well.

On Christmas Day, around noon, the front door of their house flew open… the Christmas tree flew through, still half-decorated, and landed in the front yard… the door slammed shut. Somebody had it “up to here” with Christmas, apparently.

My default Christmas tree is 18 inches tall. My favorite Christmas tree is 10 feet tall, and a February birthday present from my mother in 1999 (she had asked what I wanted). The tree was marked way down—from $400 to $100. I was so excited about putting it up this last Christmas, and then I was gone from home until right before the Big Day. So—little tree to the rescue, and it was a Christmas gift from my mother, too, in 2003 🙂 And I love it dearly. I got it out of the box on Christmas Eve—there was one present underneath on Christmas morning, and I put it away the day after. Not a very good holiday at my house this year.

But now that I know about steak and champagne—next year will be better.

You guys are BREAKING MY HEART over here!

Well, it’s done. Back to normal. Just need to move the little table to where the tree was.

Where’s my booze?

Janna, I feel your chemo pain, but you kicked my butt because I didn’t put a single thing out for Christmas. Good for you! I think I’ll go back to Norway next year, let my lovely daughter-in-law decorate. They do Christmas very seriously over there.

Here’s to all of us being here next Old Twelvey Night!

I spent about a third of my childhood in Germany. My tree always stays up and lit till the 6th of Jan- 3 kings day (drei könige tag). For the last 15 years or so, I’m generally on vacation on the 6th of Jan. I have an artificial tree, so I will come home at the end of Jan to the beauty and joy of my Christmas tree. It makes a return to the mundane bearable.

I love Amsterdam’s way of getting rid of the huge Christmas tree they put in the Dam Square (damn square! should be round!).
They have an 8 or 9 hour near-riot as they burn it down on New Year’s Eve.
It’s hours of fireworks, partying and a mob burning down a 30 foot fir tree.