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In the past, my parents always had the Christmas tree fully decorated and waiting for me when I got home.  This year, my mom asked me and my dad to get a Christmas tree and decorate it ourselves.  I was only too happy to do so.  I have a sad confession: I didn’t know the difference between a Douglas fir and Noble fir until today.  Noble firs are much more expensive, but I can kind of see why.  They’re just a neater-looking kind of tree.  But I love my Douglas fir… It seems more traditional and natural.

Funnily enough, someone got arrested at Home Depot while I was waiting for my dad to pull up with the car so we could load the tree.  I saw a man being handcuffed and assisted away by several security guards.  Ah, nothing says Christmas like buying a tree… and watching someone get arrested… Apparently, he was trying to steal Christmas lights.  Figures.

One thing I never realized is how happy Christmas trees make people.  I have never had so many people smile at our car as I did when I had a Christmas tree tied to the top.  Some teenagers walking in the parking lot looked at us enviously as we drove past them.  Pedestrians smiled as we passed by them.  A neighbor even smiled and waved when she saw our tree.  I almost felt like I was in the Twilight Zone or had stepped into the Stepford community (come to think of it, this IS my first day back in the OC…)

I love the holidays.