So for a week, Chance has been begging to decorate for Christmas. Considering our impoverished nature of being students this year, I had decided that it was likely not worth our expenditure of an annual $29.95 on a Food Lion Christmas tree. So secretly, each day I drove to school and while doing so, I had been secretly scouting the perfect Christmas tree to steal. Nothing really stuck out to me, and I certainly didn't like the idea of stopping in the middle of the freeway to cut down a tree. That's when I remembered this abandoned road at the end of our street. It's all grown over these days, and it cuts through this forest. Unfortnately it's an area where many people dispose of trash and appliances, and the city practically ignores it. The trees are wild, and I don't see anyone missing a small tree.
Basically with a used hacksaw in hand, we ventured in for the steal.
- A couple of tips on stealing Christmas Trees:
Look for abandoned properties, or ask owners if reasonably possible.
Rinse it off with a hose before you bring it indoor.
Spray with bug spray.
Buy some hand shears to trim the limbs into shape.
So we hunted around, me and Chance, and then found this huge 12 foot tree that looked about as good as we were going to get. The problem of course was getting to it. It was in the middle of a briar patch, and across a stream, but we ventured on. We cut it down about half way up, and took the top home. It's not the prettiest thing it the world, and oddly it's covered in thorns itself, so I consider it the most poetic tree I've ever owned. Cost: nothing but a few scratches.
The kids are proud as can be decorating it, and bleeding from it.
I did give it a nice bug spray wash to confirm we didn't bring home Alvin and the chipmunks.
This is how you stick it to those Christmas capitalists. After all, isn't this, not buying your tree at Wal-Mart, how Christmas was meant to be celebrated?
