UPDATE to Real or Fake?

[msb]

.... Christmas Tree

My family's tradition has always been to have a real tree...complete with aroma, sap, mess, etc. Over the years we've done themes such as :finding the worst looking tree possible and doing our best to make it look nice, dedicating it to my brother who died suddenly at 38 not long before Christmas, a "fishing" tree, etc, etc. Our daughters have been moved on to their own adult lives now for 8-9 years, one far up North and the other still "local", but we still keep in touch almost daily, and every year they have input into our "family tree".
We are currently in the process of listing our house for sale which we purchased new 29 years ago, to move further away from urban living, so my wife and I thought a nice little fake Christmas tree would be easy and nice and clean, as our house has been fully detailed for upcoming showings by our real esate agent. Well, the younger daughter caught wind of this and colluded with the older one up North to launch a full-out lobby to pressure us (me) into keeping with tradition and not allowing a fake tree into the house for its last Christmas under our ownership. I'm sure those of you that have daughters can understand that I, as I have for the past 30 years, succumbed to the wishes of my girls and this morning went out and found a beautiful little, sweet smelling, needle dropping, sappy Douglas Fir...the tradition lives on for another year...

[BF]

Fake...with pre-lit LED's.  Looks just as nice as a "real" tree once you get it decorated.  No fuss, no mess. 

[The emperor has no clothes]

Damn it  I thought this was going to be a boob comparison post.

[f6john]

Ba Humbug! Haven't put up a tree at all for several years for varying reasons. Hope to get back to that again went our lives are a little more settled. Years ago when our son was young we bought live trees and planted them in the yard. We have two evergreens in the yard that are close to 50 foot tall now. I can't look at them without memories of my son as a toddler who now will start the process over with his twin sons.

[Bighead]

Damn it  I thought this was going to be a boob comparison post.

Damn meat we agree on three things now

[The emperor has no clothes]

Damn it  I thought this was going to be a boob comparison post.

Damn meat we agree on three things now

Maybe we should quit thinking with our little heads ? 

[msb]

Damn it  I thought this was going to be a boob comparison post.

Damn meat we agree on three things now

Maybe we should quit thinking with our little heads ? 

Wow... talk about a thread hijack... can't get much more off topic than this    

[Bighead]

Damn it  I thought this was going to be a boob comparison post.

Damn meat we agree on three things now

Maybe we should quit thinking with our little heads ? 

Speak for yourself

[Moonshot_1]

.... Christmas Tree

My family's tradition has always been to have a real tree...complete with aroma, sap, mess, etc. Over the years we've done themes such as :finding the worst looking tree possible and doing our best to make it look nice, dedicating it to my brother who died suddenly at 38 not long before Christmas, a "fishing" tree, etc, etc. Our daughters have been moved on to their own adult lives now for 8-9 years, one far up North and the other still "local", but we still keep in touch almost daily, and every year they have input into our "family tree".
We are currently in the process of listing our house for sale which we purchased new 29 years ago, to move further away from urban living, so my wife and I thought a nice little fake Christmas tree would be easy and nice and clean, as our house has been fully detailed for upcoming showings by our real esate agent. Well, the younger daughter caught wind of this and colluded with the older one up North to launch a full-out lobby to pressure us (me) into keeping with tradition and not allowing a fake tree into the house for its last Christmas under our ownership. I'm sure those of you that have daughters can understand that I, as I have for the past 30 years, succumbed to the wishes of my girls and this morning went out and found a beautiful little, sweet smelling, needle dropping, sappy Douglas Fir...the tradition lives on for another year...

...succumbed to the wishes of my girls and this morning went out and found a beautiful little, sweet smelling, needle dropping, sappy Douglas Fir... and killed it.

Merry Christmas!

[Bighead]

Damn it  I thought this was going to be a boob comparison post.

Damn meat we agree on three things now

Maybe we should quit thinking with our little heads ? 

Wow... talk about a thread hijack... can't get much more off topic than this    

Oh real for me trees too

[Serk]

Fake trees... We bought it once, and keep using it for a decade or so...

I can see the allure of real ones, but I'm cheap and lazy so a decent fake one with LED lights works for us...

[The emperor has no clothes]

Damn it  I thought this was going to be a boob comparison post.

Damn meat we agree on three things now

Maybe we should quit thinking with our little heads ? 

Wow... talk about a thread hijack... can't get much more off topic than this    

Sorry, it wasn't too cool of me.  sometimes my mind doesn't work right 
To get this train back on the tracks. I prefer real. My wife prefers fake. She wins. 

[cookiedough]

Fake trees... We bought it once, and keep using it for a decade or so...

I can see the allure of real ones, but I'm cheap and lazy so a decent fake one with LED lights works for us...

+2...   

I am so glad my mother in law,  old school traditionalist,  a few years ago decided to finally after 25+ years of having to go up and cut a real tree got a nice fake one finally.  When our kids were much younger they liked going out and hacksawing it down with my help and putting it in back of truck into her house in the 50+ year old metal stand she had and decorating.  NOW, our kids are much older and find no sense in a real xmas tree.  She finally caved in way too much hastle driving 35 miles one way, another 20 miles into the country, back to her house 20 miles, then home again 35 miles after putting it up and decorating it for 2-3 hours.  Waste of a day if you ask me.

[BF]

It's CHRISTMAS, not Xmas.  And you didn't even capitalize it.  Please, can we put Christ back in Christmas where he belongs. 

Don't mean to rant, well yeah I do, but this sorta thing has been grating my nerves since Clinton was in office and all of the politically correct crap started.  I don't care who I offend...it's our country and our traditions.  Don't like it, leave.

[dreamaker]

Well it’s time for all that Christmas Trash!  NO I am not a Grinch; I just think it is sad, what retailers led the public to believe what Christmas is all about.  Retailer knows that most people have Nest eggs, and they want a piece of that action, using the family’s children as a conduit to their parent’s bank account or credit card debt. TV constantly bombarding the viewers on how they should interpret Christmas, telling you what is a, Must Have and Must Own to conform to today’s social status.   And selling them things, that they don’t need, or cannot afford, just to make it a profitable season for the retailers.   After it is all over, bragging and rubbing it in the consumer’s noses, of their windfall profits.
 I think it is sad that children will never experience the true feelings and the real excitements of Christmas, they will just see that pseudo, “want a be Christmas”, of the present and maybe the future.  I think it is sad that most children will not enjoy gifts from the heart, and only from the wallet.
 I recall as a child, lying by the Christmas tree, looking at the Church tree stand, with the electric train going in circles around the bottom of the tree.  With only the tree lights shining, the smell of REAL pine and being able to stay up late, enjoying a heartwarming evening till we could even keep our eyes open. Our gifts were simple, and not judged by how much they cost, and they were worth more than all the gold in the world to us.
I have the gift of memories, of what Christmas was and should be, and I sadly regret that most children and families will never experience the greatness, of what I once had. I am not a Grinch; I just miss those true Christmases that were real. 

[msb]

Moonshot_1 .... it was already dead...the Boy Scouts did it

Bighead.... 

Meathead.... No worries. I'm no prude, but I wouldn't start a thread like that on a forum like this

BF... re: Christmas... 

Dreamaker... my family's Christmas is still the same as mine (and yours apparently) was as a child...simple and devoid of excess. It is what you choose to make it

[RP#62]

One Christmas, when the boys were little and we were living in North Carolina, we decided to go out into the woods and cut down our own little tree.  It was going to be great.  It had snowed a couple of inches the night before but wasn't that cold.  The woods were beautiful.  We couldn't find a regular Christmas tree but the boys did find a little cedar tree that was kind of shaped like a Christmas tree so we cut it down and brought it home.  We set it up in the living room and started decorating it.  The boys thought it was great. 

While we took a brief break to eat lunch, evidently the tree began to fully come up to room temperature.  This triggered a series of events.  You know how during the summer you see lots of bugs in the woods but in the winter, no so much.  Ever wonder where they all go.  Apparently, they all go in that little cedar tree that we cut down.  When we came back in the living room, it looked like Noah's ark had arrived at its destination and was in the process of unloading its inhabitants.  There were bugs of all descriptions all over the living room.  My wife directed that the tree was to go outside...now....decorations and all.  Although the boys thought the bugs were cool they complied.  We ended up with a fake tree and its been that way ever since then.

-RP   

[Serk]

Evidently, my ancestors used to prefer real trees though... Love this pic from the family archives, my dad is the little boy sitting in a chair on the right, my grandmother sitting down on the far right with my uncle in her lap, my grandfather standing on the far right, this photo we believe was taken in 1950...



Among family we refer to this as the "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" picture...

[baldo]

 I prefer real. My wife prefers fake. She wins. 

Are we still talking about trees?....

[Willow]

... I'm sure those of you that have daughters can understand that I, as I have for the past 30 years, succumbed to the wishes of my girls and this morning went out and found a beautiful little, sweet smelling, needle dropping, sappy Douglas Fir...the tradition lives on for another year...

The right choice.  People, most especially daughters, are more important than all the practical reasons to do otherwise.    

[BF]

... I'm sure those of you that have daughters can understand that I, as I have for the past 30 years, succumbed to the wishes of my girls and this morning went out and found a beautiful little, sweet smelling, needle dropping, sappy Douglas Fir...the tradition lives on for another year...

The right choice.  People, most especially daughters, are more important than all the practical reasons to do otherwise.    

What about our sons?  I think mine might disagree.

[hubcapsc]

I love real trees, we always had one at my house, the smell alone
is enough, and the family putting on the ornaments and then
kids (me) sitting around the tree at night thinking about what
was in those packages.

But real trees go up like gas fires. Nobody comes down to see
our house anyway now, we have some of those led candles
with suction cups on them for the windows on the door   ...

We got a Christmas card from a cool older couple from Church
today, it is fun to get on new lists sometimes... Mr. Woolbright's
family has been around here for a long time, I like to listen
to his stories, I'll see him sitting on the bench in his front yard
sometimes on the way home from work and stop and hear
some of them often. They bought a bunch of green tomatoes
at the end of the season this year and kept them in an un-heated
part of their house. Last time I was there he gave me some ripened
tomatoes that were good enough to put on a sandwich 

I just got back from a family Christmas gathering in Greenville,
everyone was there and everything was yummy...

-Mike

[Willow]

The right choice.  People, most especially daughters, are more important than all the practical reasons to do otherwise.    

What about our sons?  I think mine might disagree.

What!??  Your sons don't think people are more important?   

[Serk]

... I'm sure those of you that have daughters can understand that I, as I have for the past 30 years, succumbed to the wishes of my girls and this morning went out and found a beautiful little, sweet smelling, needle dropping, sappy Douglas Fir...the tradition lives on for another year...

The right choice.  People, most especially daughters, are more important than all the practical reasons to do otherwise.    

What about our sons?  I think mine might disagree.

Having 2 of each, daughters DEFINITELY think they are more important than sons.

[Hook#3287]

Haven't had a tree since I had a wife, a long time ago.

But if I had to choose, I'd go with fake.

Went to a Christmas tree burning party one January.

Seeing how quick those suckers go up, no way one of those is going in a house I like.

[michaelyoung254]

Sorry, it's a bit of a long story, but I haven't had a real tree in my house since 1989, and I'll never have another one. Up until then, I always had a "Real" tree, and always did everything they recommended to keep the tree fresh.... Making sure to pick out the freshest tree we could find. Cutting off a few inches from the bottom, and keeping the tree stand reservoir filled with that over priced sugar water etc... I was on vacation during the week of Christmas of 1989, and when my vacation was over, and I went back to work, I learned that a coworker and a friend of mine had a tragic accident, and had lost his his wife, and two children in a fire on Christmas eve. It seems that he had fallen asleep on the couch with a cigarette, which caught the couch on fire, and then the couch caused the Christmas tree to ignite. He woke up, and woke up, and yelled for everybody to get out of the house. He got out, but when he discovered that his family hadn't gotten out, he went back in to try to get them out. The fire department found him still alive, but burned over 90% of his body. His wife and children died in the fire. They ended up amputating both of his arms, and both of his legs trying to save him, but after a couple of weeks, he passed away as well.

Not long after I had just learned about his family (he hadn't passed away yet), my wife and I took down our tree. The garbage wouldn't take it, and I was too cheap to take it to the dump, so I decided to take it to my parents and burn it. The tree seemed to still be in fairly good shape, but when I went to light it on fire, it almost exploded. It was almost like I had poured gas on it or something. With the fresh memory of what had happened to James's family still on my mind, it scared the crap out of me that I had that firebomb in my house with family. I went home, and told my wife what had happened, and that I never wanted another "real" tree in my house again. Luckily, this was shortly after Christmas, and everybody had their fake trees on sale. We went down to Sears (I think), and bought a really nice tree for less than half of what it normally cost. Haven't had a real tree since, and never will.

[Bighead]

Micheal that is a tragic story but no fault of the CHRISTmas tree. It wa she fault of your freind falling asleep with a lit cigarette same outcome tree or no tree probably.

[BF]

Michael, I'm so sorry for your friend.....that's really a very tragic story.   

It does give one something to think about when thinking about buying that next tree.

[Jess from VA]

The problem with real (commercially sold) ones is they are cut 6 weeks or more early, and no matter what you do, they are dry as hell by the time they get used.  

I wish I had some Christmas pics of the home I grew up in; we had a two story great room, and brought in Douglas Firs over 20 feet high (cut just days before use).  Dad had the welders at the mill build a giant base for them, and we still ran a couple guy wires to the walls.  It took the whole family one entire day to decorate top to bottom; needed ladders, and we did the top from the upstairs balcony.  Had to bring it in through the front porch double doors.  Every childhood ornament made in school got put up, as well as things from my parent's childhood (all kinds of old wind up toys, and hand carved wood figures). There was a huge stone fireplace and chimney up the other side of the house, big enough to put a half a tree stump in (and sucked every bit of house heat right up the flue in cold weather).  Mom would make a huge wreath for the stone flue, and decorate the whole house with live bunting.  Magical times for young kids.

Now I live alone, and I do no tree.  I have a couple strings of minilights on a big silk vine/flower basket in my den, and at Christmas, I plug it in.  Done (and I put a few things out).

Serk I find the family resemblance to your dad's childhood pic remarkable.  And I'm thinking no one gave the big dude on the left any crap whatsoever.

RP, love the bug story.  Reminds me of one particular motel bed.

[cookiedough]

It's CHRISTMAS, not Xmas.  And you didn't even capitalize it.  Please, can we put Christ back in Christmas where he belongs. 

Don't mean to rant, well yeah I do, but this sorta thing has been grating my nerves since Clinton was in office and all of the politically correct crap started.  I don't care who I offend...it's our country and our traditions.  Don't like it, leave.

testy are we??  If you do not like politically correct, then stop whining over stuff like this...  So sick of people whining about being politically correct 'OH, let us NOT say this or that a certain way' to offend anyone.  The heck with that crap.     Oh, let us NOT capitalize this or that or even CAPITALIZE wording meaning shouting,  OH WELL, get over it.  Get over it and move on.  Dealt with enough CRAP lately with people reading WAY too much into petty stuff said a certain way just because they think it was NOT done 'their' way is all.  Rant OFF!!!!    

[BF]

It's CHRISTMAS, not Xmas.  And you didn't even capitalize it.  Please, can we put Christ back in Christmas where he belongs. 

Don't mean to rant, well yeah I do, but this sorta thing has been grating my nerves since Clinton was in office and all of the politically correct crap started.  I don't care who I offend...it's our country and our traditions.  Don't like it, leave.

testy are we??  If you do not like politically correct, then stop whining over stuff like this...  So sick of people whining about being politically correct 'OH, let us NOT say this or that a certain way' to offend anyone.  The heck with that crap.     Oh, let us NOT capitalize this or that or even CAPITALIZE wording meaning shouting,  OH WELL, get over it.  Get over it and move on.  Dealt with enough CRAP lately with people reading WAY too much into petty stuff said a certain way just because they think it was NOT done 'their' way is all.  Rant OFF!!!!    

Seems I hit a nerve.  As I said, I don't care who I offend...and that includes you.  It's still Christmas...not xmas.  Christ is still the reason for the season. 

[pais]

    Since '87, we were not married but, living in sin. We both loved to go out and cut a live tree for decorating. Usually sister and her son would tag along and get one too. We'd load up into my '83 Jeep CJ8 and head to the fields. Loved those times and cherish the memories!
     In '92 we got married(finally my parents would come visit). Same year we moved into our 1st home. We started buying live bur lapped Blue Spruces. I'd dig the hole before the ground froze and plant the tree after the 1st of the year. I enjoyed that and it created a natural barrier down the side of our property. I enjoyed that and it was nice to see the trees grow.
     In '98 kids came along and we went back to fresh cut trees from the fields. Hard to drive a mini-van into the fields. Walking in help tire the kids and me, had to drag the tree out instead of roping it to the roof of the Jeep. Loved this too and cherish the memories!
     Well, sometime around '04 we realized that our son Alex(4yo) would seem to have a constant runny nose and congestion every Christmas, from Thanksgiving on. Didn't need a tree to fall on us  ! So starting in '05 we've had an artificial tree. Not much of a fan of 'em, son feels better though. It's pretty enough when decorated. Just not the same, all the fake sprays can't reproduce the smell of pine in the house this time of year. Dragging from the attic to the living room gets a little crowded in the stairwell. Besides I do not go barefooted, ever. So those pine needles in July don't bother me a bit!
     Real on both accounts! 
     

[woofred1832]

                       I have been through the KIDS years, when I did REAL to show them, but lately it has been FAKE all the way to just a 3 ft. table tree already lite, BUT this year my daughter asked if we could do a real tree.  Yes she lives with me,even though she is 24 now. I said if you want one OK. took a while to hunt up what few orniments I had left, but I have to admit it was kind of fun to do a real tree, not that it will become a habit, just this once. I was suprised that all but 2 of the 10 strands of lites I had still worked.....................I still decorate outside, that part is still fun for me and the neighbors.                  MERRY  MERRY to all and have a good up coming safe year!!!!!!!! 

[Jess Tolbirt]

It's CHRISTMAS, not Xmas.  And you didn't even capitalize it.  Please, can we put Christ back in Christmas where he belongs. 

Don't mean to rant, well yeah I do, but this sorta thing has been grating my nerves since Clinton was in office and all of the politically correct crap started.  I don't care who I offend...it's our country and our traditions.  Don't like it, leave.

BF, i used to think like you about XMAS until i looked up the real meaning, now XMAS is just fine with me...it actually blew me away to see how far back it goes..

[cookiedough]

It's CHRISTMAS, not Xmas.  And you didn't even capitalize it.  Please, can we put Christ back in Christmas where he belongs. 

Don't mean to rant, well yeah I do, but this sorta thing has been grating my nerves since Clinton was in office and all of the politically correct crap started.  I don't care who I offend...it's our country and our traditions.  Don't like it, leave.

testy are we??  If you do not like politically correct, then stop whining over stuff like this...  So sick of people whining about being politically correct 'OH, let us NOT say this or that a certain way' to offend anyone.  The heck with that crap.     Oh, let us NOT capitalize this or that or even CAPITALIZE wording meaning shouting,  OH WELL, get over it.  Get over it and move on.  Dealt with enough CRAP lately with people reading WAY too much into petty stuff said a certain way just because they think it was NOT done 'their' way is all.  Rant OFF!!!!    

Seems I hit a nerve.  As I said, I don't care who I offend...and that includes you.  It's still Christmas...not xmas.  Christ is still the reason for the season. 

Its cool,  you say Christmas,  I say Xmas.  To me, it does not matter.    When religion or politics get mixed in general topics,  we all can get a little unnerved, and for me politics nor religion nor being politically correct are not at the top of my list.  

[Pappy!]

It's CHRISTMAS, not Xmas.  And you didn't even capitalize it.  Please, can we put Christ back in Christmas where he belongs. 

Don't mean to rant, well yeah I do, but this sorta thing has been grating my nerves since Clinton was in office and all of the politically correct crap started.  I don't care who I offend...it's our country and our traditions.  Don't like it, leave.

Amen, brother!! Oh, Merry Christmas to you and your family!

[Serk]

It's CHRISTMAS, not Xmas.  And you didn't even capitalize it.  Please, can we put Christ back in Christmas where he belongs. 

Don't mean to rant, well yeah I do, but this sorta thing has been grating my nerves since Clinton was in office and all of the politically correct crap started.  I don't care who I offend...it's our country and our traditions.  Don't like it, leave.

BF, i used to think like you about XMAS until i looked up the real meaning, now XMAS is just fine with me...it actually blew me away to see how far back it goes..

And let me wish everyone a sincerely happy Christmas, X-mas, Saturnalia, Solstice, Hanukkah, Festivus, Bodhi, Pancha Ganapati, Yule, HumanLight or whatever....

I don't care what you call it, if your wishes for peace and happiness are sincere, I accept them gratefully and return them in kind.

[Art708]

It's CHRISTMAS, not Xmas.  And you didn't even capitalize it.  Please, can we put Christ back in Christmas where he belongs. 

Don't mean to rant, well yeah I do, but this sorta thing has been grating my nerves since Clinton was in office and all of the politically correct crap started.  I don't care who I offend...it's our country and our traditions.  Don't like it, leave.

Myth: “Xmas” is a non-religious name / spelling for “Christmas”. It turns out, “Xmas” is not a non-religious version of “Christmas”. The “X” is actually indicating the Greek letter “Chi”, which is short for the Greek , meaning “Christ”.

[Skinhead]

But real trees go up like gas fires.
-Mike

^^^^^This^^^^^^

When I was 4 or 5 years old, we experienced this.   I come from a family of 7 kids, (6 at the time of this incident) and My Dad worked 3 jobs while we were kids to provide for us.  Prior to the incident, my parents would out do themselves at Christmas time.  Waiting until Christmas eve to set up the tree and put out all the gifts.  My Dad had several Lionel model trains from his youth and a train set up that took up most of our living room.  (I wish I had a picture handy to post.)  Anyway, right after Christmas , 1960, my brother and I were running the train around the live tree when all of a sudden, WHOOSH!, the tree went up like a bonfire doused in gasoline.  Everyone made it out of the house ok, but the house was severely damaged and all our Christmas gifts were lost.  We lived with my Grandfather for a few months until the house was repaired.  The next year and for several years after that, we had one of those silver aluminum trees with a color wheel.  One of the most repulsive things I have ever seen.




In my adult life, I have always had fake trees, but since my 2 boys didn't really get into setting up the tree and train at Christmas time, I don't even put up a tree anymore.  I gave the tree and train set to my son, and he puts it up in his house now for my grand daughter.

[John Schmidt]

... I'm sure those of you that have daughters can understand that I, as I have for the past 30 years, succumbed to the wishes of my girls and this morning went out and found a beautiful little, sweet smelling, needle dropping, sappy Douglas Fir...the tradition lives on for another year...

The right choice.  People, most especially daughters, are more important than all the practical reasons to do otherwise.    

Ain't it the truth, learned that lesson years ago. I'd bring home a tree and the excitement on their collective faces was something to behold. They couldn't wait to start shaping the limbs and hanging stuff all over it. I'd set it up, get out the decorations, then turn them loose. Made little difference to them what the tree looked like, it was glorious in their eyes when done and emotional when they had to take it down. Great memories.