Adam@Home by Rob Harrell for December 08, 2009

Drink your coffee Adam!

ugh, fake tree :@ Never!

The original function of a Christmas tree was to bring a bit of life (okay, so they’re dead once they’re cut down but…) into the home during the cold and dreary winter months. An artificial tree simply can’t do that. I’ve used both, and hands down the real tree accomplishes its function while the fake just feels fake – I’d rather not have one at all. I think as soon as the kids leave home, I’ll buy a small potted tree and just decorate it every year.

Yeah! You will remember a live tree in July when you are still vacuuming needles.

Lewreader - - sounds like you need a new vacuum.

MOMA always does beautiful trees… and would love to have a small version…but, $$$$!

We quit using real trees the year we had to replace one a week before Christmas. Artificial trees aren’t such a fire hazard and are more forgiving of tiny grandchildren’s exuberance.

Light a pine candle!

Just the fact that it’s more of a fire hazard would make me never want a real one, not to mention the expense. I remember as a kid going back to school the day after new years and seeing all those trees on people’s lawns looking so forelorn now that Christmas was over. It always made me feel a little depressed. Some of them still had tinsel on them.

I’d like to light a French Toast candle! Yum!

With no judgement of anyone else of course, I’ve always been a “real tree” man.

I may be sentimental but the process of buying the tree, bringing it in the front door, smelling the smells, (and yes) cleaning up the needles and noticing the imperfections of the perfect tree, strike me as an experience that I’ve shared with my parents and their parents parents.

It helps to make the holiday season more of a family celebration to me. It connects me to the past and the past to the future.

I like real, my hubby wanted fake. Now we just don’t bother putting up a tree - took too much work rearranging the furniture to find a place for it.

We do real trees in both of my houses, in Philly and in New Orleans. When we’re done with the one in New Orleans, the parish comes around and collects the trees and uses them for marshland rebuilding projects. In Philly we usually get a tree with the roots intact and plant it in the yard after the season is over.

My family used to go out into the woods every year and cut our own trees. The only cost was time and they weren’t as much of a fire hazard as one that had been sitting around with a bare base at some tree lot.

We finally started using a fake tree when my dad got too old to go out anymore.

i bought a plastic tree , used it twice, then gave it to a friend. haven’t put a tree up in 7 years and really don’t miss it

yeah, a real tree doesn’t have to be a fire hazard at all. Get a freshly cut one and keep it well hydrated - not a problem. Same goes for needles - and that also depends on the type of tree, some don’t fell needles at all.

Imo one of the biggest drawbacks of the fake trees is how perfectly shaped they are, it’s so obvious that they couldn’t be real.

@ Doctor Toon: Good luck with that, our cat Leticia is eight this year and still manages to fell the Christmas tree at least once every year. Our tree is real but we have replaced our glass ornaments with plastic ones a long time ago.

My older cat is 12 and I wouldn’t trust her with something too interesting - she’s relaxed, but she’s still interested in getting into stuff.

I have a fake tree. It’s cute, it’s easy to decorate, and I don’t have to kill a tree every year. It’s even “green” because I re-use it every year.