Bringing the Woodland Inside the House

Again in our lives during the December winter season we've partaken in the pagan tradition of taking a piece of the outdoors and bringing it into the house.

We've been purchasing real trees for a few years now, pining-up the house's natural smell, and decorating them with shiny baubles and lights. The expenses ratchet up a little more each year, but that's natural. And the ornaments...our ornament collection is the only thing in our possession comprised of objects that Corrie has more of than I do.

This year we went out and got what seemed like an enormous tree:

It's not Rockefeller Center huge, obviously, but for our downtown apartment, it's the tallest tree we've ever gone after. We were looking for one that would be tall and relatively skinny at the bottom (a tight diameter). This was successful on both counts.

I'll try and show a picture from last year also, just so I can compare.

Here's this year, with the skirt and train setup:

2022

And here's last year:

2021

The perspective is close, and the violet that shows through in the saved pictures is weird, but probably makes sense from a science standpoint.

My brother made a good (financial) point the other day on our bi-weekly Skype calls: invest one time in a fake tree and then get a wreath each year for the smell. This isn't a terrible idea. It's not very practical for us for two reasons:

1. Corrie will NEVER go for a fake tree, and;
2. We have two kids and a thousand square feet, so where do we store a fake tree for 11 months a year?

I really don't care, and if it was solely up to me, I might never opt for a tree. But I also enjoy having it after we get it, so maybe I'd get one. But that's a universe where I'm single and childless, so so many things would be different, contemplating is facile and probably a waste of time.

Anyway, I love our new tree! Even if it was essentially a $300 afternoon! It smells so awesome and makes the whole apartment glow. 

Go pagans! They had some shit figured out, didn't they?