About Me

My photo
South Carolina, United States
Vetsy is my nickname that my family have fondly called me since my childhood. My blog reflects my personal views about the world around me. My topics may be anything that interest me but the majority of it is about my favorite past times...nature and gardening. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment or becoming a follower.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

The Day We Broke Tradition

Since my childhood it has been my families Tradition to purchase a natural Christmas tree.  It's pine fresh scent filled the house putting us in the mood for Holiday cheer and since our Mother's home was the place for family gatherings it was customary to sat up a tree in her home.

A couple of winters ago we were hit by an unexpected storm the very week we needed to shop for a tree.

 Frigid bone chilling winds blew Icy flurries across our faces and through our bodies as we Shook, Shivered and Shake our way from one tree vendor to another.

We were astonished by the quality of trees that were offered. They were in poor shape and every vendor we approached seemed to have them.

There were trees that were so dry if you Sneezed the vibration would sat them on fire!
Hundreds of trees with missing pine needles were sprayed with blue green paint and scores of knotty crooked trees so knotty and so crooked a squirrel would risk injury if it attempted to climb one.

This was not the norm..we never had trouble purchasing a natural tree in the past.

Chilled to the bone and close to frostbite, one of my sister's suggested that we do something we had  never done before.. Purchase an artificial tree!

So off we went to find our artificial tree, agreeing to stop at the first retailer we came across.
Back at moms we pulled the tree from the box that came with three dissected pieces that we had to put together.

when we were done ... It looked nothing like the fabulous tree on the box, but after a little more tweaking and decorating we had a tree we could be proud of.

I have a new appreciation for the artificial tree.. They are crafted to look like the ones found in nature and unlike the natural tree they save you time, money and clean up.


I have not abandoned my tradition and love for the real thing..but it is nice to know that I have an alternative when I need one.

4 comments:

  1. Vetsy .. I enjoyed reading about this adventure and your view point of artificial trees now : )
    We went back and forth on this issue .. the last time we had a "real" tree was when we were living in the Netherlands .. their trees are rather short and wide .. well, it fell over a few times making a huge mess and from that point on we stuck with an artificial one .. but ... I so miss that smell in the house .. I would buy a little tree just to scavenge the branches to put in water and have that wonderful aroma in the house .. but knowing my cats .. well, it would be chaos !! LOL
    This was a cute story with a very good point made !
    Joy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you... I went out and bought scented candles, scented pine cones, potpourri and pine oil to make up for the lack.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Vetsy, I've been decorating my two Norfolk island pines as Christmas trees for about 5 years now. I enjoy the combination of real tree and easy of setup (there is none!). :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Monica I can understand why you would chose the Norfolk to use as a Christmas tree, they are so cute.

    I'm going to get a few next year. I read that they adapt well indoors and can accept very little light.

    Thank Monica for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete