Andrea here, continuing our Christmastide posts with thoughts about when to pull the plug . . . on the Christmas tree! It seems that each year, the Christmas season grows longer. I remember a while back being surprised when Christmas decorations started appearing around Thanksgiving time. Well, this year, I saw some appear around where I live at Halloween. I swear, there will soon be Christmas trees up in August.
When I was a kid, we put up our tree around two weeks before Christmas, and it came down right on New Year's Day. I sort-of stuck with that over the years, until 2020, the first Christmas after the pandemic struck. Maybe it was the need for the comforts of Christmas Past, but I went out and got my tree the day after Thanksgiving and decided to do the whole Twelve Days of Christmas, leaving it up until Three Kings Day. I found I really liked sitting down and just enjoying the sparkly tree lights for a short interlude with the other lights turned dim. It was very peaceful.
I've stuck with that now, even though the world fells pretty much back to normal. (Though I may tunplug in a few days before Three Kings Day this year.
What about you? If you celebrate Christmas and have a tree, when do you put it up and when do you unplug it? Is there a long-standling tradition in your house or do you play it by ear every year?