The Royal Tanenbaum
On my way out the door Monday morning to drive back to Austin, my mom asked me if I wanted to take my Christmas tree with me.
The backstory on the Christmas tree: When I was a kid, my family had a big tree downstairs, with all the family ornaments and what not, and a little tree upstairs, with my sister's and my ornaments. Every year, my mom gives both me and my sister an ornament, and she will most likely continue to do so until I am 80, so around the time I was 12 and my sister was 8, there wasn't much room on the tree for both of us. That, and that point in our lives, my sister and I refused to share anything. So, good ol' Nancy went over to Venture (Remember Venture? The K-Mart/Target/Wal-Mart knock-off that went under after a couple of years?) and got the both of us our own little plastic tree (cue Radiohead).
Back to the present, she asked if I wanted to take my Christmas tree, so I said, "OK." The more I think about it, the more I am glad I did. Otherwise, this would have been my first Christmas without a tree. Back in Waco, the roommates and I used to go to the tree farm and cut our own, being careful to find one approximately six inches too tall so it would bend against the ceiling.
So, I set it up Monday, and have basked in its calming glow each night since then. The cool thing about it is that since my mom has given me an ornament every year, I kind of get to trace my personal history across the tree. Apparently, over the course of my life, I have spent time as a shepherd boy, an ice skater, a pair of mittens, and a bear, among others.
Anyway, there's a tree on my dining table, and I think it's awesome. Plus, it allowed me to put that kick-ass title above.
The backstory on the Christmas tree: When I was a kid, my family had a big tree downstairs, with all the family ornaments and what not, and a little tree upstairs, with my sister's and my ornaments. Every year, my mom gives both me and my sister an ornament, and she will most likely continue to do so until I am 80, so around the time I was 12 and my sister was 8, there wasn't much room on the tree for both of us. That, and that point in our lives, my sister and I refused to share anything. So, good ol' Nancy went over to Venture (Remember Venture? The K-Mart/Target/Wal-Mart knock-off that went under after a couple of years?) and got the both of us our own little plastic tree (cue Radiohead).
Back to the present, she asked if I wanted to take my Christmas tree, so I said, "OK." The more I think about it, the more I am glad I did. Otherwise, this would have been my first Christmas without a tree. Back in Waco, the roommates and I used to go to the tree farm and cut our own, being careful to find one approximately six inches too tall so it would bend against the ceiling.
So, I set it up Monday, and have basked in its calming glow each night since then. The cool thing about it is that since my mom has given me an ornament every year, I kind of get to trace my personal history across the tree. Apparently, over the course of my life, I have spent time as a shepherd boy, an ice skater, a pair of mittens, and a bear, among others.
Anyway, there's a tree on my dining table, and I think it's awesome. Plus, it allowed me to put that kick-ass title above.
posted by The Humble Best at 11:54 PM
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