Pre-Decorated Christmas Trees

If you've been reading this for a while, you're probably under the impression that I don't like anything. And, if you ask my wife, she'd probably agree with you. But there are a few things here and there that I do like.

Christmas, for example.

Just strip away everything that's been done to the holiday for the last century and a half or so, and you've got a pretty damn awesome holiday that's all about giving.

When I was a kid, my favorite part of the season was decorating the tree.  I think every family has that set of decorations that are distinctively theirs. My family, for example, has a set of clothespin dolls that my dad made. They're dressed in authentic native costumes for a dozen or so countries, and are in pairs (one man and one woman per country).  They're really neat.

When I was at the store the other night, I spotted a tree that was pre-decorated. 

Why would anyone do that? I don't even put up a tree (which is a point of contention with my wife that she'll eventually win and we both know it, but I keep struggling), and I have some ornaments.  Every year, I wind up with a few more ornaments. Every year, we have a harder and harder time putting the ornaments on our garland.

By the time my wife wins that argument, we'll have enough to trim a tree. Of course we'll then need to buy lights.

So buying a pre-decorated tree takes away the best part of the tree.

Not only that, but what is up with the fake trees with built-in lights?  Seriously.  First of all, I prefer real trees. Fake trees just don't smell right - and I love the scent of pine. I understand that real trees can be a fire hazard. And real trees are a cat hazard. And real trees ... well ... require more cleanup.

But even then, why would you buy a pre-lit tree? My parents have enough lights that they rotate through and change the look of the tree.

The photo above? It's from a year they used mostly white lights. But there was one year, it was blue and white. One year, it was all green.  You can't do that very easily with a pre-lit, pre-decorated tree. It's certainly not worth the effort it would take.