About Buckhead reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 2019)
Commentary | 17 DECEMBER 2019 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net Family ‘tree-dition’ brings the thrill of the last-minute Christmas tree If it’s Thanksgiving weekend and you’re reading this by the glow of your Christmas tree lights, then you won’t understand. My family is not one to eat the turkey and trim the tree in the same weekend. We like to push the envelope around here. We have our own tradition, which is that is that we wait until the Christmas aisles in the drugstore are packed up to make way for boxes of Valentine’s candy before we finally pick out the tree. The thing is, we’ve always chosen it together. We’d drive home with the tree strapped to the car, on, perhaps, a brisk De cember evening, and I’d turn on seasonal music, they’d move furniture, I’d pour drinks, they’d tarp the floor, I’d make food, they’d bring in the tree, my husband would pull out the Shop- Vac, and everyone would scatter. It was a sweet and manageable tradition when the kids were all younger, but it’s getting to be increasingly more dif ficult. It’s not that we venture to a tree farm in the Carolinas and chop it down ourselves. We just try to find an hour that we all agree on, and that is challenging enough. Each year, the kids are further away from home and ar rive later in the month of December, and each year around the 17th, I launch a frantic campaign of texts and WhatsApps de signed for us to choose a three-hour time slot during which we can convene for the annual (ahem) tree-dition. Last year, the appointed day was Dec. 23. We knew that the tree-nabbing window was quickly closing and we were cut ting it dangerously close and that pickins would most likely be slim, but we were fortified by the memory of the Tanenbaum of 2004, a 12-foot-tall beauty which we bought at Home Depot on Christmas Eve for 10 bucks. But last year, you may recall, was an especially wet one near Christmas, not the ideal conditions for peddling holiday greenery, and when we finally set out at 7 p.m. to our favorite tree lot (three-quarters of a mile from our house), we were stunned to find that the lot was completely closed. There was nary a pine needle in sight. We drove to the next one down the street, and it, too, was closed. Then, mild panic set in. We called Costco. No trees. Walmart. No trees. Home Depot. Yes, there were a few left. We drove in the rain to the tarped lot, where another forlorn family was picking in the rubble. On one side of the tent was a pile of trees, flopped on their sides, sacked out like a group of diehards on the final night of a three-day music festival. We picked through the pile, searching for a suitable tree. They were all soaked and puny, supposedly a bargain at $30. We each scouted around the debris as I got the sinking feeling that I would have to create a facsimile that season using a bicycle pump and some green felt. My son eyed a possibility in the midst of the pack and picked it up with one hand, giv ing it a little shake while needles tinkled to the ground like they did for Charlie Brown’s tree. The tree-lot guy agreed to 10 bucks for it (basically $2.50 a foot), and we took it home and mounted it on a stool. It held approximately 1/154 the amount of ornaments we had, which meant that we dec orated it in 15 minutes, and - even better -- a few weeks later, it came down in an hour. Now I know the appeal of a tabletop tree. And now, I really do feel old. Robin’s Nest Robin Conte lives with her husband in an empty nest in Dunwoody. To contact her or to buy her column collection, “The Best of the Nest,”see robinconte.com. Read Robin Conte’s debut book ‘The Best of the Nest’ “The Best of the Nest” offers 49 of Reporter Newspapers columnist Robin Contes witty essays on suburban family life, organized by seasons. They include some of the pieces that won Robin the first-place Lifestyle/Features Column award in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and first-place for Humorous column in 2018 from the Georgia Press Association. Order the book at bestolthenest.net Follow Robin’s book-related appearances at robinconte.com. A Suite View The Suites. Singular service, style and peace of mind. There’s an elevated and CARF® accredited version of assisted living that can be found in only one incomparable place: The Suites at The Piedmont in Buckhead. Imagine all the comforts, services and amenities of a luxury address combined with attentive, expert support when the need arrives. Call 404.381.1743 today to schedule a complimentary lunch and personal tour. PIEDMONT Independent & Assisted Living 650 Phipps Boulevard NE • Atlanta, GA www.ThePiedmontatBuckhead.com • 404.381.1743
