December 22, 2016 – Christmas Story No. 2

        This story is also in Lawrence, Kansas.  My husband had gone off to North Carolina to a new job, and I was staying behind with the cat and dog trying to get the house sold.

        In early December he called to tell me not to decorate for Christmas.  He had the movers coming December 26^th to pack us up and we would start our drive the next day when the moving van was loaded.  His command, yes it was a command, fell on deaf ears.

        I could not imagine going without Christmas, or without a Christmas tree. 

I rebelled, silently, of course.  What was he going to do?  He was in North Carolina and I was in Kansas and he wasn’t going to be coming home to “retrieve me, the little wife” until December 24^th.   As soon as I was given that ultimatum by phone, I acquiesced falsely. 

“Yes, dear.” I cooed into the telephone.

        First thing Saturday morning, I headed to the nearest place to buy a fresh Christmas tree. 

        There were Christmas trees in a lot across from the grocery store.  The sign said: Frasier Firs from North Carolina. Now, wasn’t that a sign that I should have a nice Christmas tree to enjoy while I waited on my better half?

        They had ample to choose from.  A Christmas tree employee in a warm coat helped me.   I looked at the 6-foot size and checked the price and moved on to the 8-foot size.  Then, I got even braver and looked at the 10-foot size.   This house was the first house we ever had with cathedral ceilings and I wanted a big tree to look stately in the living room.  It could easily take a 10 or 12 foot tree.

When the fair headed, young man pulled a 10-foot tree out for me to get a look, I noticed it took him some effort and he was young and strong.

        He shook it out, turned it back and forth and completely around for me to review.  There were no bad spots that I’d have to shove to the wall.

        I looked at the price tag again and smiled.  I could afford it.

        “Yes, looks nice.”  I said.

        He said, “I’ll cut the stump end fresh for you.” He was already hauling it off to the cutting bench. 

I said, “Only if you take off 3 inches and no more.”

        He cut the end off quickly and offered, “Want me to take off some limbs?”

        “No, you are not going to make a high wader tree out of this beauty.”  I answered.

        When I payed, he put the tree through the bailing machine, wedged it in the trunk of my Cutlass, and tied the trunk latch down.  

        I drove carefully home.  It hung out the trunk a great deal.

        When I got to the house I backed into the driveway.  I pulled a tarp out of the basement.  I got the tree out of the trunk onto the tarp and drug it across the front lawn up around to the back where the deck stairs were.   I yanked it up the deck stairs.  It was one heavy tree I’ll tell you.  I had to rest several times.  And, the tree wanted to slip off the tarp half way up the stairs.   I finally had to drag it the last 10 feet or so by the lower limbs near the trunk to the patio door. 

        I rearranged the furniture a bit and then I got out the wrought iron tree stand that seemed so “over-the-top” large for my last year’s 6 foot tree.

        I cut the plastic bail off the tree, trimmed the bottom limbs only enough to get the tree stand to fit.  I pulled the tree inside, pulled it upright and could hardly lift it up off the floor into the tree stand.  It was heavy, but I eventually accomplished it.  I then pulled three dining room chair backs up against its beautiful limbs in an attempt to keep it upright as I crawled around on the floor tightening the bolts of the tree stand around the trunk.  I was alone and I was going to do it alone.  Stubborn me.

        What is the big deal?  A mere mortal woman can get a tree in a tree stand.

        It seemed tight, I pulled away the chairs and it held.  I walked around it.  The tree seemed crooked.  I got on my stomach again and loosened it and tugged it a little and re-tightened the screws.  It was straight now.  I wiggled it across the carpet toward the edge of the sliding glass door and it was against the high wall of the living room where it transitioned from the dining room.

        Next, I added water, and put a tree skirt around it – then rested on the window seat in the living room admiring it.

        Next, I pulled out all my Christmas boxes filled with ornaments and lights and the nativity set.  I didn’t have enough lights for a 10-foot tree.  I went shopping for more lights and a few boxes of additional ornaments.

        Later, I drug out the 3-step, step stool and strung the lights and put on the decorations.  I then rested on the window seat in the living room with hot cocoa.  The tree was gorgeous.

        It was a masterpiece, no, it was magical!

        Later in the evening I noticed the tree seemed to be leaning a bit.  A few minutes later it was leaning more than a bit.

        I grabbed the radio telephone and called my neighbors across the street.  Their phone rang, but no answer.   Now the tree is actually lurching and I am pushing it back with one arm through the branches holding onto the trunk.

        I don’t know anyone else, I call my neighbor again.  Finally, they answer.

        “Can you come over right away?” I say and add,

        “It’s an emergency.”   

        “What’s wrong?”

        “I put up a tree and it is falling over.” I explain to the wife of the couple across the street.  The wife relays it to her husband.

        “Let it fall over, we will come over and get it back up.” She said calmly.

        “NO – it is decorated . . .”

       

        After a moment of hushed discussion between the neighbor and her husband she said, “We will be there as quick as we can.”

        “Come to the patio deck door.  The front door is locked. I am holding the tree up.” I said.  I changed my arms as the tipping tree was extremely heavy.

        When the couple came to the patio door I had to change arms again and let go of the trunk, but decided to grab hold of a large limb to keep it upright in order to reach the patio door lock to unlock it and let them in.  At that moment, the weight of the tree just about spun it out of my grip.

        My neighbor Mike grabbed the tree and kept it from falling completely over.

        His tiny wife said, “Oh, I see.”

        He was holding it now at the trunk and told his wife to go to his garage and get fishing line out of his tackle box.  She scurried off and came back with fishing line and some sort of cord as well.

        Mike had been assessing the curtain rod above the patio door and he went into action.  He secured the fishing line, to the rod, and then pulled the line to the center of the tree where I was now holding the trunk and then back to the rod.  He did the same thing about a foot from the top of the tree.

        “Let’s see if it holds.”  We both backed away slowly.

        The wife offered up the cord.

        “Do you think you have an eye hook?”  He asked.

        “Yeah, I can find one.”  I ran to my basement and found two different sizes and came back with them.

        He screwed the larger eyehook into the patio door frame about 5-foot high, looped the cord and we wiggled it through the branches and around the trunk.  He fastened it tightly.

        “Ain’t gonna look pretty, but it will hold.”  He got down and checked the stand. 

        “The stand is fine. The screws are tight.”  He walked back and forth and assessed the tree from all sides.

        Finally he stated, “What you got is a crooked trunk.”     

        “Big trees like this if they are crooked go out of balance when you put the lights and stuff on.”

        The tree now secure, I thanked them profusely.  They said they were glad to help out.

The whole time that tree was up I feared it would crash down during the night or when I was out at work. But, the ugly cord kept it upright.

The Christmas tree was a complete surprise when my husband came home. 

“How did you even get it into the house?”  He asked amazed.

Then he asked dozens of questions in rapid fire.

“You don’t know the half of it.”  I giggled. 

While I fixed a cozy Christmas Eve dinner I told him the fiasco of my big tree – which I wasn’t supposed to put up.