SCATTERDAISIES PHOTO CHALLENGE - Christmas Trees

For 25 years of our married life, we had the tradition of a "real" Christmas tree along with the challenges and joys that concept can bring - from sodden presents because the bucket leaked to a cat whose greatest joy was to drink the water that the tree was sitting in! And along the way we had various versions of "real" trees from the cut down type to a Norfolk Island pine that ended up being planted in our garden to the beautifully groomed trees that one could buy in Seattle and to the one we were given by the Israeli Department of Foreign Affairs when we lived in Tel Aviv.

Finally after all that, we decided it was time to buy an artifical one! Except that 4 years of living in Seattle had given my DH an "acquired" definition of what Christmas trees ( real or otherwise) should look like. This meant looking at and discarding many versions until finally with Christmas rapidly approaching ( as in just a few days), he spied this model in Target and announced we had found the holy grail. There was a short discussion while its height and "footprint" were analysed but he was still convinced we had a winner.

Now this IS a large tree which means it comes in a very long box! Even when it's in pieces, it is still in a LONG box - a VERY LONG box! And the day we bought this tree was a cold and drizzly Melbourne day. We transported it out of the store in a shopping trolley that was a comedy within itself. The VERY LONG box balanced precariously across the trolley with both ends wiping out any unsuspecting shoppers who got too close.

Finally, out of breath and slightly hysterical, we arrived at my car - my LITTLE Suburu Impreza! Hmmmmm....the drizzle had now turned to soft rain and the wind chill was rising. How was the VERY LONG box going to fit into the LITTLE car? Let's just say I am indeed married to an engineer and that I really "enjoyed" the 30 minute ride home crammed into the back corner of the car with the tree taking pride of place in all the remaining space!

And every year since, when the box comes out, DH and I look at each other and remember all those trees of Christmases past and in particular that cold wet day outside a Target store in suburban Melbourne.
This pic is from Christmas 2007.