O Christmas Tree!

Last Saturday we got our Christmas tree on a snowy afternoon. It was fat, full and looked great with snow on it. That night I put it in a bucket of water to spread out overnight.

Sunday afternoon we discovered that the tree's trunk was not quite vertical. In fact it is shaped like a nice arc. In fact you can see its slight back bend in this photo. Thankfully I broke the old tree stand.

Let me explain. I was too clever by half when I brought the tree in the front door. I attached the tree stand while the tree was still horizontal. When I raised the tree to vertical, two of the four holes that held the bolts that held the tree snapped.

Janine and I hopped in the car for the four minute drive to Home Depot, and I found the ideal tree stand there. The tree container and the floor stand are separate. You attached the bolts to the trunk then lift the tree into the stand. What's more, the container is a gimbel the rotates and tilts, compensating for a crooked tree like this one. Look at the base. There is a black lever there that locks the tree container in place. A few minutes after this shot was taken we had the tree aligned and looking fairly straight.

Then came the process of hydration. We kept pouring what seemed like gallons of water into the smallish tree container. I guess there have to be trade-offs somewhere. Sunday night I poured nearly a quart into it before I went to bed. Then I woke up about 3:00 AM thinking that I better check on the tree or it will BURST INTO FLAMES! Silly me! Well, it only took a glass of water to fill it then...