A vote is like a rifle

"A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user."
- U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt

It's shaping up to be a sugary holiday...

Artificial and sort of proud of it.

It doesn’t remove air pollution, or provide a home for wildlife.
It doesn’t disguise a cell tower or offset my carbon footprint.
It doesn't even have that lovely Christmasy smell.

But it was easy to assemble, pre-lit, low maintenance and goes with my fake grass and my attempts at low maintenance lifestyle.
I sort of hate that I am in the majority on this one. 21 percent of U.S. households display real trees while 48 percent put up fake ones. The remaining three in 10 households do not take part in the tradition.

I hate the idea of cutting down a living breathing tree but I also hate contributing to the landfills when this one gets tossed.

I want to be carbon neutral. I try. I purchase power from alterate sources. I recycle. I changed my light bulbs. I hope to get solar panels next year.

Over the years I have tried: Cut trees but putting them up by myself is a pain in the ass. I love the smell but hate the trouble, scratches, doing the lights and the mess. It usually falls over at least once while I am trying to stuff it into the stand and make sure it is straight while I dig the screws into it's poor barky flesh... It's just too hard.

I have tried a live, potted tree that later was planted in my yard. It died in a few short months leaving a carcass to dispose of in May and a really guilty feeling in my hippie heart.

This year I decided for the first time ever, to try an artificial tree. The concept bugs me. But I think I like the final effect. It is bold. It is white. It does not look like a fake tree trying to be real. It is what it is. And I think I like that. This year anyway.

And since I have a fake tree and I care about the universe, I will donate to Tree People, and leave the planting and care and actual thriving to those who can properly take care of REAL trees. There are a lot of Global Releaf programs. Please donate to one this year. (It is a fact that the average American family needs to plant 30 trees to offset the CO2 produced by their daily energy use.)

The best thing for being sad, replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world around you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it.

That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.

T.H. White, "The Once and Future King"