O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum

We put up our Christmas tree yesterday. And it's lovely. All white lights, the tiny kind. Almost lacy. And bedazzled with many, many homemade ornaments -- some from Mike and Beth's earliest years in school. Lots of glitter, macaroni, cotton balls, and curly red pipe cleaners.

When our kids were young, I'd lead the family on an annual excursion to find a suitable tree. We'd spend a long, long time picking out the perfect Christmas tree. Some years we visited the Rotary Club's Christmas tree stand at the Shaw's parking lot. And other years, we'd traipse through the snow at a local tree farm. Before long, Mike and Beth were well trained to carefully examine any tree under consideration --



Back then, I preferred a gumdrop tree -- dense, not at all see-thru-able, broad across the bottom, and not too pointy on top. It had to have plenty of room for many lights and ornaments. And it had to look good all the way around. The kids knew that if they could see through it, they knew to move on to another. And they knew that Mom always had the final say. Yup. Me.


With age comes maturity, right?




This year's tree is simply splendid. Al and I chose it in about 45 seconds at the Boy Scout's tree sale in Bar Harbor. The tree has a couple of thinner parts--I can even see straight through to the wall in a few spots. But I love it because it's in our Maine house. It's our tree. And I can look at its ornaments and remember Christmases when Beth and Mike were young and still at home.

I think I'm a grown-up. Maybe.

Merry Christmas!