Well, it seems that the Christmas/Holiday season is getting underway. We finally got the tree up and decorated. It's kind of interesting putting up an artificial tree- kind of like a puzzle. About three years ago, we decided to go with an artificial (aka fake) tree after looking at the prices of cut trees- they're easily at $80 to $100 for a six-footer (and it gets worse, the taller you go). My wife and I finally decided at those prices, it just didn't make any sense and it seemed like a big waste of money.
I'm not being a Scrooge here- trust me, I'm a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas (at least the form that we celebrated when I was growing up) but it just doesn't make sense to spend money on something that you're going to discard in a few weeks. Worse, they always dry out and that presents a serious fire hazard (trust me, they're like torches when they burn, they burn and leave nothing behind but greasy ashes). As an experiment, we once cut up a used Christmas and tried to use it as firewood. When lit, the tree went up on a fireball. Not good! So you don't even get the benefit of using them for firewood.
Live Christmas trees aren't really an option where I live (too many trees to being with and Pine doesn't do well) so we decided that the whole exercise had gotten way too absurd. Hence the fake Christmas tree.
I suppose it would also be good for the environment and all that (even though I tend not be a tree-hugger) so for now, my vote is leave them alone. It's crazy to cut down trees just to use them for a few weeks and then throw them away (not that you can do much once they're cut anyway).
Christmas- even the tree aspect is commercialized (no surprise there). Oh well, it's the spirit of the season that counts, not the trapppings, although they can make every better.
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