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December 5 4, 2017: Are Those Real?

87 Comments

Okay, sorry to keep the holiday theme going, (apologies to those that don't care for various/obvious reasons) but: real tree or fake? We started using a real one last year, and might as well do it again.

87 thoughts on “December 5 4, 2017: Are Those Real?”

    1. Heh, other than the yearly cost, going to a real tree was less hassle for us. That's mostly because the fake tree we used to have was both huge and required assembly.

      1. How huge was it? We have to assemble our fake one and can get it up in about the same amount of time it would take to get dressed let alone cut down a tree and bring it home.

        1. We've got a 4-piece 9' tree, and other than having to fan out each branch, it's easier to setup and much easier to water and vacuum up after. The only thing that I long for is the scent.

          I want to invent an artificial tree you can plug in after assembly and the electrical charge forces the branches to repel - voila, instant setup!

        2. It was something like 8 or 9 feet tall and around 5 feet in diameter. The problem was the each individual branch had to be installed onto the thing instead of just being permanently attached.

  2. We have a very small artificial tree. I love a large, real tree, but it needs a large room. Our parsonage, while perfectly adequate, does not have the sort of big room you need for a big tree.

  4. We cut down a fresh tree every year, specifically, a Canaan fir. Mrs. Hayes is not feeling well enough to go this year (the first time since we were married), so I invited my brother-in-law, who recently moved north.

    Pops quit having a real tree at his house when he joined the fire department. I’m pretty mindful of tree-related hazards as a result of some of his stories.

      2. We don’t name our tree. Pops planted three conifers of some type on the northwest corner of his house, which he named “Mike,” “Robbie,” & “Chip.” He decorated them with lights once they were big enough; now they’re too big.

      3. When I was a kid, my mom's friend's kids named their tree "Ace".
        My mom promptly named our "Don't Touch".
        We switched to artificial a year or two later. (Briefly switching back when I sold trees with Boy Scouts.)

        I now have my folks' old artificial tree. The versimilitude keeps increasing as it sheds more and more needles each year.
        It'll eventually be an imitation Tamarack.

  6. I grew up with real trees, and intend to have them again someday, but have not had the opportunity. My kids are begging for them, but understand it'll have to wait until we're in a better living situation.

    Went to a tree farm with one of my kids on a field trip last year. He still talks about how irresponsible artificial trees are for the environment. There may have been some indoctrination on this field trip...

        1. That’s pretty impressive. I imagine the number of artificial trees that make it that long with their original owners must be a pretty small fraction of the total number produced.

          Assuming we had the space, I’d love to get a vintage aluminum tree to display in the picture window, then do the real tree elsewhere in the house. That’ll have to wait until we move.

          1. I would still have it, too, if someone hadn't taken it down when I wasn't home, threw it in to the garage and bent the main pole.

        2. Our tree must be about 30 years old, though it hasn't been used every year.
          But now we use it twice a year... our church's Vacation Bible School, "Catholic Camp", the one my wife does music for, uses it and others for a campfire under the stars setting. They put a forest of artificial trees in the school's cafeteria, with turf carpet on the floor, rocks, cricket sounds, etc...

          I stored it in our attic one year and I think the heat up there I think sped up the shedding. I anticipate using it for more than another 10 years though.

      2. funny that artificial trees are irresponsible for the environment, but growing pine trees expressly to harvest for a 4-6 week display and then throw away (not even burn for firewood!!!111one111!!! -- after appropriate aging) is not....???

        I guess there is an argument to be made that the industry is responsible for sinking a lot of carbon every year. And they do get repurposed.

        1. According to this industry group, the average growing time for a Christmas tree is seven years. So, the average tree is harvested after seven years of carbon mitigation & used in a place of honor during a month-long cultural/religious festival. I’m not sure what the average price for a tree is (I suppose it varies by location), but I pay around $60 a year to cut one down. That $60 goes to the farmer who raises a farm full of carbon-mitigating trees. From an economic standpoint, that’s $60 that says in circulation within my local community. From an environmental standpoint, that’s $60 that directly subsidizes a carbon-negating agricultural enterprise, creating a stable market for tree farming that has positive environmental implications for my family & my neighbors.

          I don’t know about other communities, but the street department here in the People’s Republic goes around twice every January to collect trees for recycling. As your link points out, depending on the location, recycled trees can become mulch for municipal parks, free compost for gardeners, for preventing erosion, or as organic material to preserve threatened fish/wildlife habitats.

          1. Real tree in the Corn household, for all of these reasons. We also have a 'Charlie Brown' on the front entry table, a 20' fiberoptic tree in the upstairs landing windowsill, and somewhere, a 6' faux tree from our apartment-living days.

          2. Can buy local for the areas that can grow them, such as Wisconsin. The industry site rubs me the wrong way though on several of the points.

            The trees would only count as carbon sinks if they're reused in a way that doesn't release the carbon. That page doesn't include more information about how they're recycled so it's hard to tell, but I'm guessing few are turned into wood and used.

            1. Perhaps the net sink of the 7 years growing and the lands that would not be holding the next 6 years' of trees but would instead be cow pasture or have a big-box retailer built on it.

                1. In H'istan, they go to the curb on our street and magically disappear all at the same time.

                  In Scandia, I'd haul it out into the back woods and it would become pheasant-condo.

            3. Our community collects them, piles them up on the fairgrounds, then grinds them up for mulch. Reading several articles on the subject, I am still no wiser on which direction is best. So, with it being somewhat of a muddled push, I will keep the easy route of my artificial tree.

              1. For carbon, it would be neutral. All of the carbon pulled from the atmosphere during the growth is then returned when they decompose as mulch. Possibly cash positive, depending on your mulch usage.

                1. The article I read also said an artificial tree takes 20 years of life (or lack thereof) to make it carbon neutral. So, I am ok there.

        2. IIRC, the number of trees that get planted vs. used is > 1:1, and young trees are better than old trees for oxygen output and the like. But that's IIRC, and I don't know that I do.

          1. Hard to imagine smaller trees put out more oxygen than larger trees but maybe it has to do with rate of growth. Of course, a smaller tree would also allow for greater undergrowth.

        3. Those reuses seem inefficient, particularly the Times Square tree, which is trucked across the US from its origin site. Instead, they should plant a tree there and care for it enough so that it thrives.

  7. We were gifted a very nice 8 ft artificial at our wedding. We have twice put up real trees for the kids enjoyment. I much prefer the artificial, as our cat prefers the real tree and likes to tear into it. Pine scented air freshener.

    1. Man, my experiences with trees are just completely the opposite of everyone else's for some reason. Our cat loved to climb into the fake tree but never went near the real one other than to drink the water out of the base.

      1. ...drinking water out of the base is really bad for cats... or so my brother's girlfriend was informed.

        2. The solution was to put a garbage bag over it, under the cover thing. She was too lazy to put in the effort to move the bag.

  8. Growing up, we had a real tree for many years. I was on watering duty for those years once I was old enough. We eventually switched to an artificial tree. With the wife, we've only used artificial. The cats still climb in them and we can't use her mother's fancy tree skirt because one of the cats really likes it. The oldest doesn't care. He's obsessed with the ornaments and wreaths instead.

  9. My parents have, IIRC, a Blue Spruce a few strides out their back door (Because Up North), which they decorated for years. It may have gotten too big by now, but it was cool to have a living, perpetual christmas tree available.

        1. my memory is hazy. It might be a White Pine. But for some reason, Blue Spruce sticks in my mind.

          It is probably about 40 years old now. My dad planted a number of pines around their property in the 1970s after clearing a bunch of birch and poplars.

          1. White Pine is the opposite. They're the Afghan Hounds of the Pinaceae, and they use lots of conditioner.

            1. Yes, long hair vs spikey. I know he planted both around the property. Will have to dig up a pic.

    2. I don't understand this concept of "too big". My in-laws have one that is taller than their 2-story house. We still light it.

  10. Last year we put our tree and decorations away before Christmas because kitten. This year we may skip it altogether, but Mrs. Twayn has asked if we can wire up the branches on the artificial tree and wire on the ornaments. I hate to be the one to disappoint her.

    1. we have a norfolk pine that is too large to bring back in, so this year we got a new island norfolk pine that is a charlie brown special. Trader Joes sells these sad little pine trees for 4 bucks, and now one sits on our table with led lights that are too heavy for it's branches.

      1. I've got some great memories about Christmas trees. When we were kids, we always got real trees and setting up was a family affair. We always made popcorn and said we were going to string it but we always just ate it instead. One year in Colorado some of us drove 90 minutes to the mountains to cut one just because we wanted to play in the snow. The year after we married, the wife and I took our 4-year old niece to the Christmas tree farm to get a tree. She was really excited but it was a long drive and she fell asleep on the way. When we woke her up and told her we were there, she looked around at the bare trees and said with true toddler disappointment, "But, but there's no Christmas on them!" Poor thing learned a hard lesson about expectations that night. We finally succumbed to indifference and got an artificial about fifteen years ago.

  12. I've never had a real tree. Always artificial. I don't think I've ever really had the desire to get a real one. Since we don't have family nearby and are usually on our own for Thanksgiving, our tradition has been to put up the tree and decorations on Thanksgiving after the meal. This year, we are going to visit my parents in Maple Grove for Christmas, so we decided not to bother decorating. We went to see Ragnarok on Thanksgiving instead of decorating. That was a wise decision.

  13. My parents had an artificial tree for 30 odd years (got it from a Sears and Roebuck catalog!). When they moved my sister got it. I wish I would have claimed it. 😆
    Being in an small apartment, my decorating space is limited so I dont. I should invest into a Charlie Brown fake tree.

      1. KAT has absolutely no interest in going anywhere near the paint on offense tonight.

        1. It's almost like playing all these guys heavy minutes on back-to-back nights is not a recipe for being fresh down the stretch.

    2. Caveat: I haven't been able to watch much of the Wolves lately.

      Forget where I read it, but someone questioned whether Thibs' system can be as effective today as it was only a few years ago because of how offenses have evolved away from isolation plays. An inability to modify the system matches up with my notion that Thibs believes in his system above all else and is willing to throw away pieces (Rubio) if he doesn't like the fit.

      Britt Robson is really keying on the KAT-Thibs dynamic lately, anyone watching think it looks like a strained relationship?

  15. For the second time in recent weeks I got an email indicating that someone had requested a password reset on my wgom account.

    Someone must think there is loose change lying around in the basement control room.

  16. A number of years ago, I met a couple in Iowa who brings a bare branch in at Christmas, puts it in their tree stand, and decorates it. The effect is surprisingly lovely. Ever since then, we've cut a branch from the lilac bushes in the yard and brought it in. After a week or two, it begins to leaf out, and some years there are even small clusters of white lilac flowers.

    The boys oversaw decorating the tree this year and objectively speaking, it looks terrible . . . just horrendously gaudy. But they did it with such enthusiasm, and I love it for that reason.

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