It was a long time ago. I think it was 81 with that recession well under way. I had been laid off and jobs to be found were very few, not even a help wanted sign at the local 7-11 or McDonalds. I had just bought my place a year earlier when mortgage rates were obscene but that's another story. With not much money and doing the food bank route I hatched a plan to have a christmas tree.
I knew the stores would close on Christmas eve around eight. I can't remember if we were at K-mart at the time or not. This was long before Wal-Mart had moved into the state and the 99 cent stores weren't around either. We fiddled around until after 8:00 then went cruising for a tree lot. I went about a half mile down the road spotted a sign Christmas Trees in big red letters. Perfect I thought, but even better the lot was totally dark with nobody around. Now before you think this was some great tree robbery this was an empty lot with about three leftover trees laying on the ground that nobody wanted. We found one 3 1/2 foot tree that was in nice shape tied it to the roof and off we went. Made home type decorations of paper cutouts and any odds and ends from the junk drawer. It was a fine Christmas that year.
5 comments:
My favorite Christmas tree story: 1991 - http://rogerowengreen.blogspot.com/2006/12/some-favorite-christmas-moments.html
It would seem that even with your hard times at the time, the memory would appear to be a fond one.
While I miss those trips with my kid to find just the right tree, about fifteen years ago we decided to stop buying into the wasteful stupidity of buying a harvested tree.
A tree inside the house, I still don't get it, but we do it every year.
Reminds me, I need to go pick up an artificial tree. First one I've ever bought myself...
I had a fake tree for nearly a decade, which was about 8 years beyond when it still looked good. I got it at Marden's, which is a Scratch and dent clearing house of all kinds of weird shit for cheap prices. It really looked flea-bitten a couple years ago and L made me get rid of it. It looked like it needed a chiropractor and the base was held together with duct tape (the skirt covered it). We have a fake tree again, but that has more to do with the fact that I like a lot of lights (3,000 on a six-foot tree!) than any environmental philosophy. A real tree would dry out and burst into flames in about an hour. And then I'd be out all those lights.
I can just not recall that 80's depression you talk about, I did just fine through the 80's.
I haven't done a tree thing for years. One place to find them is at schools, they usually put them out before taking the christmas break.
I guess my favorite old christmas memory is the year I had a custom made mothers ring made for Laurel, she was speechless when she opened it.
Wait, it might have been the christmas I spent with that......
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