There is a tremendous evergreen in my living room right now. Remarkably, the very living room that I had previously believed to be rather generous in size has been dwarfed by a holiday decoration.

I was spoiled by last year’s installation of the “natural” Christmas tree. Said natural tree was harvested directly from the Northwoods by my own Papa and had never been pruned unless perhaps by a hungry whitetail or rogue porcupine. The tree looked great out in the woods, but by the time we erected it in the living room, the festive trimming appeared to be nothing more than a bare spindle with a branch or two every 6 inches or so.

What we lovingly referred to as “The Charlie Brown Tree” had it’s benefits. Every ornament on that tree was in perfect view. Foot traffic could easily maneuver around it in spite of hearty holiday-fed figures. Most importantly, it did not obscure the view of the television set, thanks to the sparse foliage. Nonetheless, it was a little disappointing to behold and I think my parents may have felt a little bad for supplying such a dismal “first tree.”

To make amends, they promised the largest of the manicured double-balsam firs lining their hunting cottage property front. Papa insisted the tree had grown too large to prune and that he’d prefer to cut it down and transplant a smaller one to fill it’s place. I eyed up the gorgeous, full evergreen and took him up on his offer. We cut it down and they delivered it on their way back to town after the gun-hunting/Thanksgiving festivities just today.

As the case tends to be, the tree didn’t look nearly as big in the front yard as it does in the comfort of my living room. It’s too big for my tree stand and leans unfortunately to the side. We struggled and grunted turning the tree and cutting it so that it just might fit. Papa muttered excusing “a few” dried oak leaves among the branches I’d need to clean up…and wouldn’t you know it, a robin’s nest? How did that thing not fall out? He recommended tying it to the front window treatment and propping up one side of the stand with a block. It obstructed two lanes of traffic to our furniture and left our modest CRT television set only marginally visible.

Don’t worry…Christmas is not ruined…I just needed to relate this story because I think it’s funny. It really doesn’t look bad now and I do think it’s sort of neat that there’s an actual discarded nest among the branches. I may need to find a bird ornament to light on the edge. I’ve pruned the branches back significantly and moved the furniture slightly, cleaned out the oak leaves and put a board under the stand. It actually looks pretty nice…and the TV is visible enough to meet our needs. The house is beginning to look festive.