But by the end of today, there will be a large evergreen air freshener in our living room, and I can’t wait. Our family has a bizarre, slightly unhinged love of real Christmas trees. I remember one year, my mother dared to buy a fake Christmas tree. She announced that this year she wasn’t getting a real tree; the fake one would do. 

The entire family was shocked. She heard from all of us, the kids, her sister, nieces, and nephews, that it just wasn’t Christmas without a real tree at her house. 

We got a real tree, and that fake one sat in the guest bedroom closet for years. It never even made it out of the box. I think it finally ended up in a yard sale one year. 

I’m sure there will come a day when lugging a huge tree into the house will be too much for us, but that’s not this year. And I hope it won’t be for decades.