Tradition

   How soon do you put up the Christmas tree? I enjoy a live tree so for that reason it goes up about a week in advance, not much more. I've kept that tradition even when I used an artificial one. It all just seems too much too soon to do otherwise. For me, it's a drain on the festivities. It isn't very special if it is every day! A lot of things are getting that way in my estimation. Placing the flag at half-staff is one of them. It just doesn't have the same significance as it did in years past. Everyone is a hero, a survivor, and special these days. That just makes you normal in my way of looking at it. But I digress a bit I was talking about the Christmas tree. 

  When I was growing up Dad went somewhere and got the tree. I don't recall ever going with him. I don't know whether he purchased it from a vendor or simply went out in the woods and cut one down. Looking at old pictures I suspect some of those trees were cut down as they don't look like anything someone would be selling. That isn't to say they weren't magical; all Christmas trees are magical. Well, fake ones not so much magic as convenient. Still, they do have a bit of extra sparkle Christmas eve and Christmas morning. Growing up we never had an artificial tree, not ever. And all the Christmas greens were the real deal, collected by us kids. We made wreaths and runners, Yule logs and what Mom called sprigs of green. That was just some greens tied to the railing in the staircase with a ribbon on them. All very festive. 

  My grandson's wife, man that makes me feel old to say that has already put up their tree. She definitely starts very early. I have other friends and family members that put up multiple trees. I understand that is getting to be a thing with a lot of folks. Excess in my opinion. I'm not certain how that began. My wife tells me her parents put the tree up on Christmas eve after she went to bed. It was Santa magic, although she knew the tree had been sitting in a bucket of water by the back door for a few days. Well, Santa doesn't have room in the sleigh for all those trees, so the elves drop them off early. But she tells me the excitement was real on Christmas morning. I imagine that it was, especially if you were a small child. All that anticipation leading up to Christmas morning. I already knew what the tree looked like, had helped decorate it and was only waiting for the presents. 

  All of that does depend upon your childhood memories I suppose. That's what traditional is all about, traditions. We often talk of starting a new tradition when we choose to do something differently. Some of those things will stick and others fade away. It is a personal responsibility to keep a tradition alive. That's how that works. Today much ado is made about the family all wearing PJ's and watching holiday movies. The tradition may be going to pick out the tree or eating out at a certain place. I would say my family didn't have a family tradition regarding Christmas, the tree or any of that. Oh, there were certain ornaments and the Angel topper that we admired every year. Whatever happened to them all I simply can't say. 

  But there is one thing my mother taught me that I do practice every year, call that a tradition, it is listening to the Christmas tree. Christmas eve just before retiring for the night I turn out all the lights except for the tree. Everything is turned off, no noise in the house, no tv, radio or any of that.  Yes, silent night. Then I just sit in the quiet and look at the tree and listen to what it has to say. I can hear the voices of the past, hear the laughter, and sometimes a whisper. A time of reflection and contemplation. It may last a few minutes or just a few moments. I'll know when. I'm the only one doing that and suspect that tradition will end with me. And that's fine. You can't impose tradition upon anyone. 

  "Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around." Gilbert K. Chesterton