Taking down the Christmas tree...
01/07/2021
...seems sadder every year.
But it would be much sadder not to have one at all.
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Even if I could summon the energy to take our down, I just don't think I can yet, anyway.
Posted by: Louise | 01/07/2021 at 10:00 PM
Last year, I didn't even have a tree, and usually by the Epiphany, I am pretty hostile toward the tree. But, I have been wanting to decorate for Christmas since about April, and now I am loathe to take it down. I am waiting until after the Baptism of the Lord.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 01/08/2021 at 05:34 AM
The Christmas season just seems to fly by faster every year. And taking down the tree does always seem a melancholy to way to end it.
I was out last night and was surprised to see how many houses still have their Christmas lights on. It's almost like folks don't want to let the cheerfulness go. Can't say I blame them.
Posted by: Rob G | 01/08/2021 at 05:58 AM
That's surprising. By a day or two after the 1st there were few left around here.
Some traditionalists say the tree should stay up until Candlemas.
Posted by: Mac | 01/08/2021 at 08:29 AM
I used to keep my tree up until Candlemas - mainly because I was too lazy to take it down. But for the past few years we have had a really small, fake tree which is easy to take down. So I'll probably do that this weekend.
I don't think by traditionalist you mean Traditionalist, but I'm sure they (I don't quite consider myself one) would love to have arguments about when to take down the decorations. For instance, Candlemas is probably the right time all things being equal, but what about this year when Septuagesima Sunday comes before Candlemas? Surely the decorations should come down by Septuagesima!
Posted by: Don | 01/08/2021 at 10:40 AM
Yes, I mean lower-case traditionalist. And it's surely true that the upper-case ones would love to have an argument about this. :-)
" Surely the decorations should come down by Septuagesima!" Surely.
But in any case, Candlemas seems too long for the tree itself, if it's a real one. I have to say I can't accept the idea of a fake one. My wife has sometimes ventured to argue for one but I'm pretty adamant. This year I chose a very small one (5 ft or so) which I can carry with one hand, so the setting up and taking down were quite easy.
Posted by: Mac | 01/08/2021 at 12:40 PM
We wait until the Baptism. The thing would be brown by Candlemas.
Have you ever burned a dead Christmas tree? They create quite the fireball.
Posted by: Robert Gotcher | 01/08/2021 at 02:18 PM
Growing up among Slavic Catholics the rule I always heard was that you keep it up until at least Epiphany/Theophany.
On the burning of Christmas trees: my brother-in-law's father saves his every year until summer, when he has a big picnic with a bonfire in which the tree features. They do go up in a flash, don't they?
Posted by: Rob G | 01/08/2021 at 02:59 PM
I think I tried burning one sometime in mid-January or so and it didn't do very well at all. Maybe I'll pull mine off the side of the street where it's waiting to be picked up as trash, which I *really* hate, and just leave it in the woods till summer. But then if there's been enough rain that it's safe to burn, the tree may be too wet to burn.
Anyway I am going to retrieve mine. Maybe cut it up and leave the pieces in the woods (such as they are--Hurricane Sally really wrecked them).
Posted by: Mac | 01/08/2021 at 03:07 PM
They are still too "green" in January to turn them. We wait until summer, then do one branch at a time to avoid an out-of-control conflagration. It makes lots of sparks.
Posted by: Robert Gotcher | 01/08/2021 at 03:45 PM
Sounds like fun. I just did what I mentioned earier. Perhaps I'll pick up pieces and burn them this summer.
Posted by: Mac | 01/08/2021 at 04:21 PM
The fellow I mentioned has a large backyard with plenty of clearance between the house, other trees, etc. That's the only way the burning of the whole tree at once would be safe, because it does create a big fireball with lots of sparks that float up into the air.
Posted by: Rob G | 01/08/2021 at 05:17 PM
My son and his friends used to take all their trees to a friends farm on some unchanging date, and burn them in a huge bonfire. I think it was the highlight of his year.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 01/08/2021 at 07:53 PM