Taking it down is sad, you go from holiday cheer to the winter blues
Anyone else still have their Christmas tree up?
- Thread starter fairgambit
- Start date
Ours is still up. Today is the 11th day of Orthodox Christmas. It will come down on Tuesday.
My Mom was Orthodox so in memory of her we keep our outside lights on until Tuesday.
When I was a kid we had a LIVE tree each year. Not sure where my dad got them (perhaps uncle's property where there were many pines), but clearly these were dug up root ball and all. The tree would sit in a large barrel elevated a foot or two above the floor. The barrel and stand would be covered and decorated with the tree. I think our typical tree would rise to about 8 feet, to a point just below the ceiling.
When the time came for removal we planted each tree in our yard. Some of these grew to become huge. I'm thinking at least 30 feet. Each could be remembered as it grew.
I also remember seeing cut trees at our relatives houses and it always seemed to me to be such a waste. I did not understand harvesting a tree for the simple pleasure of looking at it in a house with some decorations.
When the time came for removal we planted each tree in our yard. Some of these grew to become huge. I'm thinking at least 30 feet. Each could be remembered as it grew.
I also remember seeing cut trees at our relatives houses and it always seemed to me to be such a waste. I did not understand harvesting a tree for the simple pleasure of looking at it in a house with some decorations.
I tried that one time. The tree and root ball weighed like 300 lbs. Like I said, I only tried it once.
Tree is still up and on as I type this message. Most of the outside lights are on as well as I took down about 25% over the last three to four days. Will take most down over the next two weekends. Always loved the Christmas season! I use to leave my lights up until June, but my neighbors started bitchin .....
Yep, and I remember the struggles getting them into the house too. We used some kind of heavy duty cart. 300 lbs is probably a good estimate.
Mine too. Probably the freshest most beautiful tree we've had in years.
We took the ornaments off but kept the lights on.
Gambit, the Christmas decorations are special precisely because they are up between December 1 and the first weekend in January. Leaving them up longer makes them less special, IMO. Take 'em down, dude...No fire.We put on a ton of multi-colored lights, and lots of ornaments, so it's just magical. If I could I would leave it up all year.
Yes 9 ft. tall, 900 multi color lights, a collage of ornaments and artificial so never a rush to take it down. It wasn't finished in it's full glory until Dec 22nd. Makes it at least to Valentines day and occasionally into March. It lights up our lives while the days are short. I often pause to look at the small manger scene beneath it which has red lighting. I saw one of my neighbor's fresh tree outside the day after Christmas and just shook my head. To each his own.
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I have not put up a tree or any Christmas decorations since my wife passed away....7yrs. and counting. But when she was with us, it was truly her show. She obsessed over every detail, gifts and decorations. Honestly, I called her a pain in the ass. Christmas shopping was non-stop for a month and once a year, I took a vacation day to go on an all day trip to Paramus NJ. I called it the Bataan Death March. We would leave home at 7am and return the next morning after 1am, as Macy's and the like were open till Midnight. I have never seen someone get such joy over giving gifts. She just glowed on Christmas morning watching our sons open their gifts.
Anyway, I don't think we ever took our tree down until the end of January. Her ancestry was Eastern European, so she would use the excuse that we had to wait until "Russian Christmas".
I think she just enjoyed the way our home looked fully decorated. Without my wife and the decorations it is just a house.
Anyway, I don't think we ever took our tree down until the end of January. Her ancestry was Eastern European, so she would use the excuse that we had to wait until "Russian Christmas".
I think she just enjoyed the way our home looked fully decorated. Without my wife and the decorations it is just a house.
I disagree. They're not special because of the time they are up. They're special because what they represent....love, peace, joy. They give me a feeling of warmth and happiness. To each his own, but my wife and I will continue to leave ours up each year until the end of January. Merry Christmas!
When we do take our tree down it takes a day or two to carefully remove and pack up all the ornaments. We also tend to keep just the lights on for a few more days.
Hoping to take mine down today. Though my youngest son wants me to leave it up all year.
We went artificial this year. We would always trudge out and cut one down ourselves each year but sadly, deteriorating health and scattered family finally pushed us over the edge (although I think I'm still up to carrying a tree a half mile or so to the car). We missed the smell most of all. But I must admit, putting it up and taking it down (always on the weekend after the 12th day) was much easier and neither my wife nor I missed the fallen needles - yes, even with a fresh tree.
. We would always trudge out and cut one down ourselves each year but sadly, deteriorating health and scattered family finally pushed us over the edge (although I think I'm still up to carrying a tree a half mile or so to the car). We missed the smell most of all. But I must admit, putting it up and taking it down (always on the weekend after the 12th day) was much easier and neither my wife nor I missed the fallen needles - yes, even with a fresh tree.I think there's a little blue pill that you can put in the water to keep it up even longer.I'm getting a little older, but I still try to keep mine up as I did when I was younger.
We took ours down the Sunday after New Year's Day.
For some reason, this year, I "felt" the spirit much more and it was very depressing to take the tree down. To me, January-March is the most dreadful time of year. Sports (football) is ending, it's cold/snowy, and there's just not much to do. Taking the tree down hammers home those points to me.
I really wish we would've kept it up for at least a week longer.
For some reason, this year, I "felt" the spirit much more and it was very depressing to take the tree down. To me, January-March is the most dreadful time of year. Sports (football) is ending, it's cold/snowy, and there's just not much to do. Taking the tree down hammers home those points to me.
I really wish we would've kept it up for at least a week longer.
My Dad, who passed away years ago used to do the same thing. He was a machinist by trade, and built his own lathe. I still
have pieces of furniture and other items he made from Christmas tree trunks.
When you drink as much wine as I do, it's best to keep it up all year long.We cut our own tree every year and put it up a week before Christmas. It stays up until the end of January and, because it was so fresh, generally has good needle retention. Right now it is glowing and warming my heart.
That's what I hope to do but mine will be mostly small carved items. I'm not very talented in that regard, so I have a large learning curve. I really enjoy gifts I received that were hand made by the giver. My wife is very good at things like quilting, knitting, and crocheting. She has made many gifts for friends and family through the years and they are always well received.
While we keep our Christmas tree up until the end of January, we turn our outside lights off after the 12th day of Russian (Orthodox) Christmas, keeping them on until that time in honor of my Mom who was Orthodox. However, we do leave them plugged in and take them down in April when the weather is warmer. That provides us with the opportunity to turn them back on whenever we want and we often do that during snowstorms. Our neighbors probably think we're nuts, but having outdoor Christmas lights on during a heavy snowfall in February or March is magical.
I love Christmas but having the tree still up in mid to late January? No.
The calendar year has a rhythm to it and at the end it builds up to a crescendo at Christmas. Then in the week between Christmas and New Years things wind down and you review the year past and plan for the coming year. Then on New Years Day it all begins anew and stuff from the previous year is gone.
It's like the football season. Once a new season starts you focus on the current season and put last season in the past.
The calendar year has a rhythm to it and at the end it builds up to a crescendo at Christmas. Then in the week between Christmas and New Years things wind down and you review the year past and plan for the coming year. Then on New Years Day it all begins anew and stuff from the previous year is gone.
It's like the football season. Once a new season starts you focus on the current season and put last season in the past.
I understand your reasoning, but we just look at it differently. To me that rhythm you mention is put out of whack when you see Christmas decorations in the stores in late October. I like the old idea of celebrating the 12 days of Christmas, and in recent years my wife and I have held a 12th Night Party on, or after January 6th, which is typically the official end of our partying. We then take another 2 or 3 weeks to enjoy the afterglow of the Christmas season.
Nice thread. Probably the nicest, most polite and honest I've seen on here in awhile.
When I was maybe 2-3 years old I "forced" my grandparents to keep the tree up until Easter. I used to have a picture of that brown, scrawny fire hazard from just before it was taken down. Thanks for all the memories!@
When I was maybe 2-3 years old I "forced" my grandparents to keep the tree up until Easter. I used to have a picture of that brown, scrawny fire hazard from just before it was taken down. Thanks for all the memories!@
We cut our own tree every year and put it up a week before Christmas. It stays up until the end of January and, because it was so fresh, generally has good needle retention. Right now it is glowing and warming my heart.
Sadly,no.We put up four (all artificial) with varying themes. Fairies, snowmen, Disney and a hallmark traditional. The hallmark goes with the train platform, a 10 X 12 with 5 lionel trains covering close to 200 hundred sections of track, a lighted village and mountains. Crazy, I know, but we love doing it every year.
The one thing I miss is having a train set up. My Dad always put up a big set when I was a kid, but after I got married, I never did. I'm not sure why, but I keep telling my wife we need to buy at least a small set and maybe next year will be the year I actually do it.
Thank you. I agree, the thread turned out better than I expected. There are some real nice posts here. Yours, with the brown tree, gave me a good laugh.
Lionel train values have dropped considerably lately with the old collectors passing away and the heirs dumping the collections on the market. Lots of deals on craigslist and ebay.
I bought a small train this year to put under the tree. Gives you the feeling of a Norman Rockwell Christmas
the artist Angela Trotta Thomas ads the Norman Rockwell touch of nostalgia to the golden age of Lionel. Check these out
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/angela-trotta-thomas
I agree. While I think our tree and decorations look great, a train is the thing missing. I have to get one for next year.
Our tree is still up. It's artificial, but when your one year old plays with the train below it for a solid 30 minutes without incident you tend to let the tree and train up as long as possible.
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