Dead Christmas Tree

 My neighbor and her husband were so busy, they just put lights on the front of their tree this year. No one walks around between the Christmas tree and the wall anyway.

When their granddaughter visited, she was eager to help finish decorating the front of the tree, the only place where everyone could see the decorations anyway. Good plan!

The next day, everyone went to work and school, everything going smoother because they anticipated Christmas cheer in the joy of going home to a cheerfully decorated tree.

No one expected to see what was in their house when they opened their door.

The Christmas tree died from front-heaviness. 

What do you think?

Shouldn't they just roll it over? I mean, it was already decorated.

Christmas Sights You've Never Seen Before!

While going out and about this Christmas season, I encountered some unusual sights. 

For example, while walking through the St. George Lin's store, I saw a family dressed in onesie pajamas belly up to the ice cream bar. When I asked them about their warm and woolly get-up, they explained their Christmas Eve tradition of going out for ice cream. This year, though, the children challenged them to all go out in their NEW CHRISTMAS PAJAMAS!

What did Mom and Dad say?

Why, YES, of course!

(Wouldn't it be fun to be part of the "Onesie" family?)

I only caught a glimpse of this truck decked out in more lights than the Rockefeller Center tree. (I snapped a quick shot through the window, hence, the reflections.) I think this is a marvelous idea, as long as you obey traffic rules.

(On police radio.) Set up a roadblock for a speeding truck covered in multi-colored lights.

Sounds like a sure-fire traffic stop to me.

Have you ever seen SINGING CHRISTMAS TREES? Besides making me laugh out loud for at least five minutes, they even change mouth shapes.

See? From curvy to rectangular...

...to circles! 

After all, you can't make all the vowels by holding your lips in one shape! (Try it... I dare you!)

The sweet thing about seeing a projection of Mrs. Claus through Santa's workshop window is that my little sister who has Down syndrome exclaimed, "She's waving at me to come in! She wants me to visit her!" 

As we drove on by, I told my sister that was so nice of Mrs. Santa, but we'd have to come back later because we had more houses to see, and there were cars waiting behind us.

(I didn't say how much later we'd come back, did I?) 

Besides, how would Carolyn feel if she discovered that the jolly Mrs. Claus was just a projection? Gotta preserve the magic, people.

And for a little Christmas un-magic, I present the small-hearted Grinch, in all his hulking shadowy nefariousness.

I'm convinced that our son's cat took some Grinch lessons, as she stole a gift from beneath our tree and clawed it open on one side. 

Guess whose name was on the gift?

Why, mine, of course.

I leave you with this image of a simple, beautiful white tree on a hillside. 

Christmas is simple, after all. 

It's all about love.

I wish for you peace, happiness, and no stolen presents.

Do You Have Your Christmas Tree Yet?

I've heard of sad looking Christmas trees, but goodness gracious, this one takes the fruitcake! Not only does it make me feel sorry just looking at it, but if you tried to hang any ornaments on its branches, they'd just slide off onto the floor. And where do you put the star on top? (Or is your family tradition a tree-topped angel? At my church Christmas party, they listed the white-clad girls as "angles." Some of them were rather gawky, but I didn't think they should have pointed out that fact so blatantly.)

There must be a way that this evergreen could be part of the Christmas festivities. In the olden days, people threaded popcorn onto strings to drape around a tree. In this tree's case, you could forgo the needle and thread and simply stick popcorn kernels on the tree needles. Ditto with the cranberries. Now we've got red and white decorations. Perhaps you could convince a real angel to flutter above the tree top. Or else you could light it the old-fashioned way, with candles that sported an open flame. There is a possibility that the tree could catch fire that way. If it does, then voila! You have a nice cheery Christmas bonfire, and the weeping evergreen tree has served its Christmas purpose of giving warmth and joy to the household.

What does your tree look like this year?