Point: Finding a real tree is a treat
By Buzzy Staten, Staff Writer
Whether it’s red-and-white round shiny ornaments, twinkly lights, or homemade ornaments from elementary school, a Christmas tree shows your family’s personality and traditions. It’s the cherry on top of Christmas. But only if it’s real.
Christmas is not complete without a real Christmas tree. So here are four reasons why you should have a living, breathing, O2-producing Christmas tree.
Going to pick out the perfect tree right after Thanksgiving is the most important step. You drive up and down Croatan Highway every day, spotting all the different places like Food Lion, Home Depot, OBX Boarding Company, Longboards and Kitty Hawk Garden Center that have fresh-cut trees. Then you finally pick out your tree.
Blood is rushing through your veins as you find the perfect one, bringing you back to memories of Christmas past. Watching the employee stick it through the red-and-green net. Tying it to the top of your parents’ minivan or sticking it in the truck bed. Taking it home and trimming just the right amount of the bottom off to fit under your ceiling and in the tree stand, and finally, moving it just a little to the left … right … and then forward so it fits just right in the living room.
Second, there’s the decorating: gathering up the whole family to place all of your most prized ornaments in just the right crevasse of the tree. Wrapping the lights around and around, up and down the tree until it illuminates the whole room. Standing back and admiring your newly decorated tree, wondering if you could do it all with a fake, plastic and tacky tree.
Third, it may be harder to handle and yeah, the pine needles fall and make a mess and you have to water it every few days, but that’s all part of the fun.
And lastly, there’s walking through your front door with the sweet and sour smell of pine and syrup rushing to your nose, turning the corner of your hallway and seeing your dark green-colored pine tree. The smell of a Christmas tree is the best. It fills your whole house. With a plastic, store-bought tree you would have to use a Glade “Seasons Greetings” scented candle, which is cheating.
But in the end, no matter what kind of tree you have, I hope you have a great holiday filled with peace, love and joy!
Sophomore Buzzy Staten can be reached at smithas1127@daretolearn.org.
Counterpoint: Don’t worry, you can spruce up that fake tree
By Blair Smith, Staff Writer
No more massive clumps of pine needles, less cleanup, less hassle hanging lights and ornaments, less cost, easy assembly.
What am I, you ask? I am a “fake” Christmas tree. Although a real Christmas tree smells amazing, is it worth all the work and hassle? There are many ways to decorate and “spruce up” your tree, and it doesn’t have to be a real tree.
A fake Christmas tree is easier, in some cases cheaper, and beautiful. A fake Christmas tree has many positives, including little cleanup, less hassle, being used for many years, and having a natural and proportional look.
If you love the smell of a real Christmas tree but don’t want all the work, you can buy air fresheners that smell like a Christmas tree and tuck them gently into your masterpiece, and it will smell just like a real tree without the sticky sap left behind.
When you are shopping for a real Christmas tree, you have many steps to take so it doesn’t die. I’ve had my fake Christmas tree five years now and it still looks as beautiful as it did when we took it home. I love having a fake Christmas tree because it takes only a few minutes to put up. The only complaint I have is that you have to “fluff” it up each year, so it looks fuller. When we decorate our tree, my mom and I use big poinsettias so there are no holes in the tree. It looks full and just like a real one.
Compare that with how you have to care for a live tree. The Purdue University Extension Agency explains that after the first six to eight hours after cutting your Christmas tree, you must cut half an inch off of the stump before you put it in a tree stand and water. If you don’t cut your Christmas tree for the second time, then the wood is exposed to air. When this happens, it blocks water from going in the tree, leading to tree death. Purdue also explains that putting the real tree into a stand is the most difficult part of the process.
With a fake tree, that’s no trouble at all.
Some fake trees are quite light and come in multiple parts for easy setup and assembly. And many now come with pre-installed lights to make it even easier to decorate.
You also can decorate your fake Christmas tree however you like because its branches are sturdier than real Christmas trees.
Real trees help clean our air, produce oxygen for us to breath, absorb carbon dioxide and reduce greenhouse gases. The fewer trees we have, the more we and our environment suffer. By buying a fake Christmas tree, you are creating less hassle for yourself while also saving the environment.
Sophomore Blair Smith can be reached at smithas0621@daretolearn.org.
