leave that tree alone
January 12, 2008
Tonight Buddy and I roamed the streets of our town. He is an Airedale terrier and loves to be vigilant. Unfortunately his eyesight is not keen and he will often mistake something like a fire hydrant for a possible attacker.
Along our route were many discarded Christmas trees abandoned at curbside. Perceiving them as critters, Buddy would pitch forward on the leash at each sighting. It made these sad encounters refreshingly comical.
I could not help but reflect on all the resources we put into these trees: the time, land, labor, fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, shipping, selling, buying, decorating, stripping, tossing, and disposing. Over 100 million of these trees are harvested worldwide each year. It seems a waste.
qazse 
January 12, 2008 at 2:20 am
The photo is out our kitchen window. The tree was a rooted Christmas tree we bought, decorated, then planted twelve years ago.
January 12, 2008 at 2:35 am
The decorated tree with lights and the whole schmeer is my favorite part of Christmas… but attribute it to laziness probably more than anything else, we’ve had the same artificial tree for the last fifteen years. It works well, and there’s not those troubling resource and disposal problems.
Regards
January 12, 2008 at 12:13 pm
fencer – Santa already told me you use an artificial tree. Good boy. I know of a family who keeps their artificial tree fully assembled and partially decorated in the garage under under a sheet. We decorated an indoor potted Norfolk pine this year. Heretofore I have been outvoted in my family and we have had the traditional big tree in our home.