A Tree Never Hits a Car Except in Self Defense

Every year, getting our Christmas tree home is an experiment in engineering.  I think this year we have finally reached the limits of how much tree you can fit into the backseat of a Toyota Camry without bending the laws of nature.  That's approximately 8.5 feet, just in case you were curious.  We've tried tying the tree on top of the car, but the last time we did that, it ended up with me hanging out the window trying to keep the tree from sliding into the street because we didn't manage to tie it on tightly enough.  Inside the car works better.

In case you couldn't tell, the Camry is the car equivalent of a senior citizen, so we choose to go the the local Boy Scout lot instead of cutting our own.  I'm not sure what the Camry would do with a muddy dirt road, but I'm fairly certain that it wouldn't be pretty and would involve a tow truck at the end of the day.

We actually got a Noble, but I didn't take a picture of that sign.

So, the Saturday before last, we headed down to our favorite tree lot and interviewed potential candidates.  For the past several years, I've had to pressure Mr. flyskim into getting a tree that's taller than me, so imagine my surprise when this year, he made a bee-line for the 9-10 footers.  Up until last year, the biggest tree I've managed to wangle him into was 7 feet. 

Not that this surprises me in the least.  When we first bought our house, I suggested really neutral colors for our bedroom, bathroom and office (they're a suite of rooms) and then carefully negotiated the yellow in the living and dining rooms by pointing out that the color was actually called Windham Cream, so not really yellow, no matter what it looks like.  The next thing I know, I've got a brick-red accent wall in the living room and an orange kitchen.  And I didn't choose either color.

Here's Mr. flyskim with our tree.  He's 6 feet tall, so you can get an idea of the size of the tree.

We carted off the tree.

And got a fresh cut (very important because Boy Scout trees can be dry).

Then we stuffed it in the backseat.  Anyone else thinking of The Grinch stuffing the Who Christmas tree up the chimney?  The Boy Scout dad who helped us load up the tree was so impressed, he took his own pictures. 

This was the side we had to worry about because we didn't want to cause any property damage on the way home.  Needless to say, we stuck to the deserted side streets. Once we got the tree home, we soaked it for the better part of a week, not because it needed the long-term soak, but because we just didn't have a chance to get it into the house sooner.

And it finally came to rest in the corner of the living room, none the worse for wear.  My buddy C thinks that we could actually manage to cram an even bigger tree into the car next year.  But as you can see from the tree top brushing our ceiling that even if we did get the tree home in one piece, we'd have to cut off part of the tree to get it to stand upright.  So, that was our big tree adventure.  We're still in the process of decorating because we're doing a little each night.  I'll have more pictures once it's done.  Oh, and if you haven't guessed, there's been no sewing going on around here, but there has been knitting with a couple of different finished projects.  More to come on that, too. 

Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season.  We're sure going to try.