0 A Tale of Two Trees: An Underdog Story

Last year I didn’t have a Christmas tree. Don’t cry for me. My house was decorated. Stockings, wreaths, ornaments galore. I even had a fancy little DIY blog post for At Home in Arkansas…just no tree…and sure enough, my Christmas was just as merry. In fact, I even gave myself a round of high fives for the time and trouble saved by not putting up a tree. So proud was I, I vowed to go the treeless route this year as well…

Until this past summer when I found, not one, but TWO free Christmas trees up for grabs on the side of the road and my scavenging got the best of me. Sold and sold. I loaded up those artificial bad boys and cruised myself on home. I didn’t even really want one tree to fool with, so what was I going to do with two? Eh, I’d worry about that when December rolled around.

Roll around it did, and this past weekend I had two trees to deal with and only enough lights and ornaments to fully stock one artificial pine. One of the two was destined to hit the curb.

After opening both boxes and examining the two contenders, an early winner was clear. Contestant #1 appeared to be decked with full branches, a sturdy stand and was pre-lit to boot. Contestant #2? Well…wasn’t. No lights, stubby branches and a stand that required assembly. No thanks…I busied myself putting together contestant #1.

One hour and 13 broken light bulbs later, I still couldn’t get all of the why-not-make-your-life-easier-and-go-with-the-pre-lit-tree lights to cooperate.

And contestant #2? The sad, light-less, scroungy excuse for a tree?…

…let’s just say he’s not the one currently shivering by the side of the road.