I got my Christmas tree this weekend…I always get a live tree…and while you 
might think that it’s because I like the smell of a fresh fir in my living room…and you would be correct…it’s truly more than that…
Live trees are finite…they have to be taken down right after Christmas…unlike that artificial one that I left up until March one year…well…I did stop turning the lights on in February…but…it was one of those years…I was working a lot of hours…and raising two girls…who had time to take the tree down…I know…everyone except me…
Oh…but those were the days…we lived in a 100 year old house with 12 foot ceilings…anything less than a 10 footer looked like a sapling…there were five mantels to decorate…and a fretwork arch into the dining room…and…of course there was a stairway and bannister…all begging for decorations…
Now…it’s the less is more approach…I shopped for the shortest tree I could find that wasn’t a Norfolk pine…I found one that is almost exactly my height…I was able to get the lights on without a ladder…which was my goal…then…on to ornaments…only the important ones made it…two Baby’s First Christmas balls…popsicle stick snowflakes…fading kindergarten pictures with construction paper frames…and a few well-loved mementos from years past…including the ones called…Glue-Me Glue-Me…that I made as a new bride back in 1976…oh…and…Bertha…snuck on a flamingo or two for good measure…
Speaking of…Bertha…she said the less is more approach…is actually part of living my truth…knowing what is important to me…honoring that…and leaving the rest in the garage…
Have to say…I agree with her…I just hope Santa doesn’t take that approach when he’s filling my extra-large flamingo stocking…
Jane
Less actually IS more. I had my years of ladder climbing or hoisting my son up the ladder with me…dangerous as it sounds…for him to put the angel on top. Now I have my little 3 foot fiber optic that I am happy with!
Your tree sounds lovely, Arlene. I think we do more when our kids are young…and then…get over it…LOL! Of course some people always love to decorate…and I love to visit them!