of and pertaining to trees, part 1

Two weeks ago we bought the Christmas tree. Contrary to news stories, the prices seemed lower than before, and we got a pretty big one. But the house was not ready, so the tree went into a big bucket of water in the back yard. Last Saturday (while I was dancing a century or more before I was born at Dickens Fair) the girls tidied up and made space for the tree. Last Sunday we prepared to set it up and I found that the tree was so much bigger than any before that we could not use the existing stand. The girls and I packed ourselves into the car and ended up at Home Depot. (They drove each other around in a race car shopping cart while I picked a bigger stand and watched a mouse take cover.) There's definitely been a change in philosophy of stands, for the old style would hold a couple of cups of water while the new styles almost all hold several liters. With the new stand in hand I set up the tree and brought it across the threshold. While I swept up the detritus my elder daughter hefted the tree into its final position. The rest of the evening was filled with hanging ornaments, lights, and garlands.

Oh, right, and sorry about that, Tooth Fairy, but because they took it into their own hands to find all the ornaments, they also encountered the little vials plainly labelled with their names and the words "baby teeth". For the elder all 20 are already present. For the younger there's still time before then, but somehow one was already missed. I have a vial full of my teeth as well. Maybe someday we'll all donate them to some strontium-90 study.