My First Xmas Tree

So this year i decided to pick up my first real Xmas tree. 

i know i didn't chose the best available tree, but i did have a price limit of about $30 with taxes.  One of the reasons i got this particular tree was convenience, it was the only one there bundled up with twine (for easier transporting).  The tree is a 5'6" tall Douglas Fir (psuedotsuga - my original Xbox 360 gamertag) that i bought at Rite-Aid.  This is my first real Xmas tree in a really long time (the last one was before 1995), but i guess that is what you get when you live in apartments.  So, i guess i don't have to break out the oozers or the spritzers this year (though i never took my fake tree down last year).  Hopefully this tree can last the 2-3 weeks it needs to.   

Having a real tree is a little more work than i remembered.  As a smaller, younger version of myself, i didn't recognize how much work there was.  First you have to transport the tree.  Then you have to prune some of the lower extraneous branches so that it will fit in the Xmas tree stand.  Luckily for me, the stand didn't give me any problems (i remember in the past that might have been an issue with those old metal stands).  After that you have to go through the delicate process of making sure the tree is straight (or close enough).  If you do things right, there should be a ton of needles on the ground (not a real ton, but not far from it). You will get sap on your hands.  Then comes the hard work of putting the lights on the tree (which i will try to outsource to alleged relatives).  This year i decided to go with LED lights, they don't produce as much heat, are brighter and tend to last longer (or they have so far).  Next after the lights is the dreaded string the popcorn on the tree (so it won't showcase how few ornmanets i have left).  This is really time consuming, my alleged mother helped me with it (meaning did most of the work) last year.     

Segue into the wavy lines flashback.  When i was growing up, we would always have a real tree in the house.  Nothing beats the aromatic bouquet of a real Xmas tree at Xmas time.  So many muffled and partially obscured memories. We would usually go to this place called Mitchell's tree farm and cut down a tree and then fasten it to the Subaru (or whatever car my alleged dad had) with bungie cords and drive it home to set it up in the living room.  We mostly got noble and grand firs (i don't remember having a Douglas fir, though they were all over the place outside).