An old-person Christmas tree
It’s time to put up a Christmas tree, you old person you! To heave it inside and decorate it with baubles and angels and scarlet velvet bows and twinkly lights! To heap presents around the base of the tree! This year, I had a sudden change of habit.
Here’s how it happened. I took the first step in my habitual Christmas tree game. I climbed on to a stool and took down a certain box from a high shelf. Yay! Clever me. Comparatively strong but deeply misguided me. (I’m an old person and not surprisingly, my balance is wonky.) Never mind, I did it. Yay for me.
This box holds the bows and angels and pottery figures that have decorated my past trees. Which, it must be said, were all tiny. They were just baby trees in pots, dragged indoors from my deck.
I carried the little box to the sitting room and plonked it on the wee table that habitually has the privilege of holding a Christmas tree.
Which potted plant would have the honour this time? I went on to the deck and rejected every candidate. Too big, too small, too chewed up, too weedy. Not one was worthy.
I wandered back inside and opened the box, set out the creche on a green felt cloth. Added an angel.
What is green, made out of wood and shaped like a Christmas tree? The box. What the heck! That’ll do. It’s a Christmas tree, sort of.
Photo of my Christmas tree says it all: OLD
Behind the “tree”, by chance, is a cardboard logo for my podcast, How To Be Old. You can only see one work, OLD. Yes, I qualify as old at 84 and this is the perfect tree for an old person. Especially an old person who lives alone and is going away for Christmas. Simplicity itself. Rather easy to assemble when your elderly hands, eyes and balance make some jobs a bit tricky. Quaint, so-sue-me nonchalant, and kind of fun.
Not to say I’ll ever do this again. Who knows? Perhaps I’ll try harder next year to have one tree looking right. On the other hand, next year I’ll be one year older.
Possibly the world’s worst old-person Christmas tree
That was a poor little Christmas tree, wasn’t it? But I did my best.
A better tree. I tried harder.
I didn’t really try harder. That was a lie. I just got lucky and this pohutukawa tree was just the right size at the time. Maybe it was the very same tree. It’s too big now. And badly bitten and neglected. Sorry, tree.
- Home alone on Christmas Day
- Paper Christmas Trees (this link won’t work for long)
I think a Christmas tree that is simple and easy is the best one. This year the feijoa tree in my garden is acting as my Christmas tree. It is beautifully decorated with feijoa flowers and looks great where it is. Simple.
Perfect! Naturally.
Well done. At least Ursula seems content to look
She does. She gives it the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.
It’s quite adorable. No need to apologize if you’re happy with it
Strangely it gives me great pleasure 🙂
That’s all that counts. We spent our lives trying to live up to the expectations of others- it’s time to please ourselves.
Our ‘tree’ — actually a whicker ornament with lights that’s shaped like one — finally bit the dust last year, so we disposed of it, and just put up a wreath inside the front door plus a few other simple ornaments around the house. All long-lived, no need to buy more stuff because honestly neither of us have the time or energy for all that extra work.
You hit the nail on the head there, Alan.
Our tree is artificial and 3 feet tall. The ornaments are permanently attached so we take off the bag and bring it up from storage and call it a day! It’s mostly for my husband. At this point in life, we don’t have people in for the holidays so it’s a lot of work for the two of us. A few things here and there would be fine for me. I think your tree is wonderful and as long as Ursula is happy, that’s all that matters.
I am starting to see another meaning in “For everything there is a season.” It’s not just the year that has seasons: it’s also us! Our personal season for erecting these seasonal trees eventually passes.
I think that’s a fine tree.
Ours is in a box that will come down from the attic soon.
More and more, so do I! Thank you, Dan.
Your tree looks just fine. I love Christmas but at 72 I tire of all the extra fluff and doodads I am supposed to put up only to put back away a few weeks later. I instead put a few lovely things up in my home and whoop it up at my kid’s house — let the Grandchildren run the gamut with it!
Looks fine to me. Some years ago after I began having some Christmases when I was living alone, having no family or visitors during the holidays, I recalled having acquired a small table top Christmas tree already decorated with miniature baubles. I brought it out from under its plastic cover to set on a table for the duration of the season — later, I re-covered the tree with the plastic and put it away. Subsequent years when I’ve been here alone this has been the tree I use. I’m quite pleased so little is involved in decorating for the holiday as I’ve had plenty of years otherwise.
That’s satisfying. And as you say, we have had our share of real trees 🙂