Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for December 28, 2023

“You would have been all right if you had just kept your needles to yourself.”

Probably a bit difficult, but best to try to wrap the tree before trying to remove it. I once had a spruce tree that shed nearly every needle as it was pulled through the narrower door frame.

Did someone forget to keep the tree watered, or did they not keep the cat from drinking all the water from the bowl?

Do better next year?

This man can make you think. At first for me Paths of Glory called to mind the 1957 anti-war film by Stanley Kubrick staring Kirk Douglas. If you haven’t already seen it, see it. It was banned in France until the ‘70s. But on a different tact JJ seems more interested in showing Janis’ frustration than the inevitable plight of the tree. And then there’s Arlo’s philosophical lament which does have less to do with an old movie than with a quote from an older poet, Thomas Gray “The paths of glory lead but to the grave.”

Why are Christmas trees always so bad at knitting?

Because they always drop their needles!

I get tons of pop-ups while enjoying these comics. A famous drink mix now offers “Vanilla”. Uh, isn’t that plain milk?

About 5 years ago we bought a wrought iron tree. Just has all of the ornaments from over the years on it. Stores flat. No needles.

One of them will be vacuuming up pine needles for months to come.

Just like our tree! Always just that one last ornament we spot just as we pitch it.

Wait till after the New Year until you take it down.

I saw a sign yesterday, some Scout troop is charging $10 to dispose of your tree.

Why waste money on a tree? A wreath on the door. Cheap, last for years. And oh yeah. HUMBUG!

If it still irritates you after all these years Janis, you haul the tree out and let Arlo vacuum.

As a kid I remember finding Christmas tree needles on the floor later in the year, which brought fond memories. The difference between the old and the young.

I guess yesterday left one of them unsatisfied with the holiday.

My decorations will be coming down January 2.

I’ve found that artificial trees shed needles too. Not as many but still aggravating.

You will be finding tree needles all around the house until next Christmas .

At least another week for mine, then to compost in the forest…

We never take the tree down before January 6th. We cut ours down fresh, still taking up the water each day….

Aucht! Tis the Redding! Need to get ready for HOGMANAY!!!

DW is working on a quilt – it’s a Christmas Tree design with ornaments, lights and presents under it – when completed, it will be a 8’ tree that will hang on the wall – our real/artificial tree days are over and this will give us the holiday spirit with no mess… and, the cat will leave it alone

We have not had that problem for 20 years, we have 2 artifice trees which we alternate.

Christmas tree needles will linger for a few months……….

After my brother and I moved out, my parents started buying a small potted Christmas tree already decorated. After Christmas it was moved out to the porch and after a while it was donated to be planted in a nearby park.

Funny that you look up like that Janis? He didn’t put it in your house, you did.

It’s sad to watch a tree die for Christmas.

We used to keep our tree up until New Year’s, or a couple of days after that.

My mom had aluminum trees because she hated Pine needles. One year I had such a dry tree in my apartment I was tempted to put the needles in a jar and take them to her house and spread them around. I didn’t

It was good while it lasted……

So why is she making a face about cleaning up the pine needles?… didn’t she know what to expect, or have they always had an artificial one before?

Two thoughts: keep it watered! Needles, so what?

In my experience, all the needles clog up the vacuum cleaner too.

Back in 1950’s Buffalo, NY they used to haul all the Christmas trees to Cazenovia Park and light them on fire in the most spectacular sight imaginable. The concession stand at the pool was opened serving free hot cocoa, popcorn, and cotton candy. Then the environmentalists swooped in and decided that this once a year bonfire was worse than the year round plumes of ash, smoke and corrosive chemicals (one plant belched nitrous oxide directly into the air, causing brilliant white plumes to form and stripped the paint off nearby houses and cars, and the local creek boasted a half inch thick scum of raw petroleum from the cracking plant).

And on to the landfill (or seawall, or whereever collection takes it)

Best to keep the tree alive as long as possible.

What? It’s not even Martin Luther King day yet.

And this is why I prefer plastic Christmas trees. This and finding absurd having a tree cut down just to decorate the house.

Excellent movie with Kirk Douglas.

This is a problem that our Jewish friends never have to contend with.

Donate a Christmas tree, help an elephant!

HOHENWALD, Tenn. (WTVF) — Every year, The Elephant Sanctuary collects Christmas trees to help supplement the elephants’ winter diets.

Trees can be delivered to the Elephant Discovery Center at 27 East Main Street, Hohenwald, TN 38462. The last day to donate is Jan. 20, and the trees must be free of all tinsel and decorations before they are dropped off. The limit is five trees per household.

The Elephant Sanctuary is the nation’s largest natural-habitat refuge developed specifically for Asian and African elephants. It is located on 3,060 acres in Hohenwald, Tennessee, and it is currently home to 12 elephant residents.