charlie brown would be jealous.

so, yeah, even poor little rye, in for a holiday visit, looks depressed about the tree. uhm, so maybe i should enlist in some tree-putting-up help next year? ena suggested i take off all the ornaments, the one string of lights that works (after all the lights were put on the tree and, yes, i tested them first, working just fine for a good hour or two...half the lights died), and dismantle the tree, then line up all the branches in piles according to size and start over. i say screw that.

oh, and why a fake tree, you ask? when he was a baby, the bad brother, henceforth known as lucifer, was deathly allergic to pine/evergreen trees. true story, ena almost caused his death as a wee tot (and in those days, lucifer was actually quite lovely and bubbly and happy, so that would have been very sad) because he couldn't breath - and the source? the christmas tree, so cheerily dressed in ornaments, tinsle, and lights, that baby lucifer loved and adored. he'd sit near it and coo. and, well, have trouble breathing. so holden and i grew up with fake christmas trees, which we've actually come to love. and, really, real christmas trees? things you need to cut down, water, and string electric lights on? uh, fire hazard, anyone? imagine the horror when stella, last christmas, told me about her people's tradition of putting real live lit candles on christmas trees! alack!

no, thanks. give me fakery any day.