Today being Boxing Day, we turned our Fists of Righteous Harmony to the task of dismantling the Christmas Tree of Unusual Size and regaining the use of our dining room. I tried something new this year: we bought the tree fairly early but left it standing in a pail of water for some weeks after. Then we brought it in and trimmed it only about three weeks before Christmas, and took it down today before it could become desperately dry. In other years, I felt an urge to have it up for a long time, but somehow this year it was enough to enjoy it briefly and then let it go.
The job's not over by a long shot, though the tree is in pieces and staged on its way to the area where we're piling brush to compost. There remains the task of dismantling the stacking bookcase that blocks the hidden Christmas closet upstairs, bringing down all the boxes, stashing the fragile ornaments carefully, humping the boxes back upstairs into the hidden closet, and re-assembling the bookcase. But at not quite noon the day after Christmas, I feel we've knocked a great big hole in the undertaking. In fact, I may take the rest of the day for Righteous Harmony and tackle the ornaments tomorrow. About a dozen overripe bananas, the result of exuberant fruit-basket giving, are calling us from the kitchen, urging banana-bread baking on us.
When do you dismantle Christmas deckings?
11 comments:
Normally we'd leave ours up into the New Year. This year, however, it didn't even make it to Christmas: the tree dried out so fast that it became a significant fire hazard a week out. I judged it was necessary to dispose of it because all the limbs had become brittle, the needles were brown, and it seemed likely to burn down the house if it became warm.
We get the tree not more than a week before Christmas day. (Usually because if one waits any longer, there are no decent trees left.) And like they did in the old country, (or at least like my grandparents used to) we decorate it on Christmas eve. It stays decorated for the 12 days of Christmas.
I confess that I don't understand the rush to put the decorations up right after Thanksgiving and then take them down as soon as possible after Christmas day. I won't be herded by the shopkeepers.
I'm old fashioned (real old fashioned) -- I wait until Epiphany (6 January).
http://plbirnamwood.blogspot.com/2012/01/happy-epiphany-original-intent-and.html
When we lived in Las Cruces, we used live trees. The decorations went up roughly a week before Christmas, and they came back down when we felt like it--generally at the end of the New Year's work break.
Then the tree stayed indoors until early spring, at which point we took it out of its pot and planted it outdoors. Since we used Afghan pines for this, we got hardy trees and wound up with a small copse of trees in our back yard over the time we lived there.
Eric Hines
After Epiphany. We have a faux fir, so needle shed is no problem.
LittleRed1
Well, it's only the tree that we've taken down. The other stuff will stay up until Epiphany. The tree just got too dry to be safe.
On or soon after the Feast of the Epithany (Jan. 6th), when the Christmas season is over. I'm Episcopalian, for what that's worth.
Dad always took the tree down on New Year's day, and burned it in the fireplace.
We have a plastic tree and my wife likes it to stay up until after Chinese New year. No problem, we've got the room.
We take ours down after New Years.
Change of subject- Grimm, are you still in contact with Doc Russia, he of Bloodletting fame?
Like Eric Blair, we trim late and dismantle late, in deference to old custom.
I can't imagine why those on school schedule would do anything different. You get to see the tree while you're home.
Loving the season as we do, we try to get a tree a little early (a couple weeks before) though sometimes it's been as late as a few days before, and leave it till epiphany. I see that appears to be common here. Besides the ecclesiastical significance of Epiphany, I figure you put all that work into putting it up, might as well enjoy it for a while.
As for dying out, I've found that when we bring the tree home, trimming the bottom inch (at least) from the trunk, and perhaps some of the lower branches, you improve the ability of the tree to take up water for a period of time. I've honestly not noticed a benefit from adding plant food or sugar and asprin to the water. I suppose LED lights would greatly reduce any fire risk as they can't break (exposing live wires) and don't generate much heat.
Post a Comment