A Tale of Two Trees
When I was growing up, every year sometime between the day after Thanksgiving and the 2nd week of December, we would go to buy a Christmas tree. I tried in vain for years to convince my parents to buy an artificial tree. My arguments were thus - They don't shed and make a mess. They don't have to be watered. They won't potentially catch the house on fire. They don't require me to take allergy medication. But, most importantly, they always look perfect. My mother was an emotional, artsy, free-spirit and remained unmoved by my logical reasoning. My dad just didn't like fake trees. So, off we would go in our winter layers to the tree farm or local tree lot in search of the perfect Christmas tree. My mother and I had very different definitions of perfect. As soon as we arrived, I would jump out of the truck and begin my search for what I thought was the perfect tree. It needed to have long needles as to be less painful during decorating. It s...