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Carol Perkins: Putting up Christmas Trees Thanksgiving weekend Time and changes in energy levels have made Christmas a simpler time, a tree with just lights and not ornaments does just fine these days, writer says. But in earlier days, the ritual changeover for the season was much different, Metcalfe County writer says The next earlier Carol Perkins column: Carol Perkins: Thanksgiving in Texas By Carol Perkins Thanksgiving weekend is when many people put up their Christmas tree. Out with the pumpkins, Pilgrims, and leftover turkey. In with tinsel, twinkling lights, and candles that run on batteries. Decorating for Christmas is a passion for many, yet a chore for so many more. I am in between. If someone would come to my house, take all my decorations (some have not seen the light of day for years) and transform my house, I would be on the rooftop with joy. Not that I don't like decorating, but I think I've lost my touch. Last year my tree had lights and that was it. "Where are the ornaments?" Carla asked when she came Christmas Eve. "Well, I kinda like it without." The truth was I didn't have the energy to put those ornaments I have collected for years on the tree. The truth is I didn't want to think about taking them off! Trees. I have been through many versions. The real tree was the only tree during my youth. An artificial tree would have been like eating a rubber turkey for Thanksgiving. My dad cut the tree. He would drag it to the yard from the field behind our house, my mother would go outside by the back door where he would be holding it by the trunk and she would give the okay. He would then nail the tree to a cross board he made and drag it through the back door, leaving cedar scattered over the floor. A few times he cut more than one tree in order to find the perfect one. We would use the discarded tree branches to make a wreath or lay across the top of the piano. The tree went up the week before Christmas and we kept it watered. I should say that my mother kept it watered. When we married, Guy and I also had a real tree for years. He worked in Campbellsville then and usually didn't get home until dark. If I wanted a tree up before the weekend, I would go to the woods and cut it myself. Actually, I would take Judy with me because she would need a tree also and we would help each other. One would lean the tree over and the other saw it until it fell. Carla and Jon were very young then, but remember helping pick out a tree, sometimes letting dark fall before we found one and having to shine the headlights on possibilities until we found one. Stuffing two trees in a trunk took ingenuity, but we did this several years. By the time we pulled the trees out, the branches were bent or broken. "If you had just waited," Guy would say, knowing that waiting was not something I did well. He would put the often misshapen tree in the red and green stand, screw the screws into the sides of the tree, and try to make it stand straight. If the bottom wasn't sawed evenly, the tree was lopsided and had to be taken out and sawed again. Then we moved to an artificial tree. I didn't miss going to the woods, but I did miss the smell of cedar in the house. The fake tree went up earlier and with lights and ornaments, it worked for us. I might have liked a silver tree when they were popular, but Guy was not a silver tree fan. "Whoever heard of a silver tree?" Now the new rage is a black tree-have you seen them? I sprayed a white one black last year for my store and put red lights on it and it made aWstatement - wouldn't want that in my house, however. Christmas fads come and go, but one thing never changes. Every tree must have a topper. It can be an angel with a light inside, or a huge ribbon, but it could be a cardboard star cover in aluminum fold. Anyone remember those? We will be putting our tree up as soon as we return from Texas this Sunday. It will be the same tree we have used since the kids were home. Guy will color code the branches as I fluff them. Then we will give them the burden of holding the dozens of ornaments we have collectied over the years. We will then turn out all other lights and let visions of Christmas past dance through our heads and wait for someone to visit and enjoy our endeavor. This, to me, is the first step toward creating the Christmas spirit. Next come the gifts needed under the tree. Why not start with a book? (Susan Chambers, a retired Metcalfe Co. High School teacher and now a teacher of English at the Glasgow campus will be at my store in Edmonton, Main Street Screenprinting, 601 S. Main Street for her first local booksigning. She has written a mythology book for children called the Olympians. It was illustrated by her daughter, Cayce Chambers Cole of L.A. She will be there from 1pm-4pmCT) - Carol Perkins This story was posted on 2012-11-25 05:21:57
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Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Carol Perkins:
Carol Perkins: Thanksgiving in Texas Carol Perkins: Who's Counting? Carol Perkins: Bully Awareness Month Carol Perkins: Special eligibles trip - IV, Home to Guy & Fluffy Carol Perkins: Special eligibles trip - Part III, Jamaica and more Carol Perkins: Part II: Special eligibles trip - on board the Conquest Carol Perkins: Special eligibles trips are all about Good Deals! Carol Perkins: Memories of Uncle Rollin (Oscar) Sullivan Carol Perkins: Neil Armstrong, a true American Carol Perkins: A week for Tv if you're interested in politics View even more articles in topic Carol Perkins |
 
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