I've never had much luck mixing cats and Christmas trees.

I spray vinegar around mine and the cats dont mess with it they hate the smell of vinegar

She had gone down early, before any of us were up, and found our xmas tree laying in the middle of the floor (courtesy of my two cats) with all her presents trapped underneath. Ever since then, we 'anchor' the tree to the wall with buttonhole thread -- just enough to make it stable but the thread just seems to fade into the wall color. Thankfully no kitties were hurt, just a few glass ornaments bit the dust.

We went to having an artificial tree when my one cat got pine needles stuck in her throat. They wouldn't chew on the artificial tree, but they sure like to lay on it's branches.

even if they are artificial!

Should provide hours of entertainment... And yes the tree will be tied to the ceiling.

Have fun! I have a hard time getting mad at my own...they can't help it!

http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/25-cats-in-on-and-under-christmas-trees

It has nothing to do with religion for me but its still something I think of as a Christmas Tree.

I finally broke down and let my husband buy a fake one a couple years ago, after years of resisting. It's a very realistic-looking one though, and we spray it with pine air freshener to complete the deception. I have no problem with whatever anyone wants to call the winter holiday.

but nobody will bring them up the stairs and help me decorate, so there they sit.
Maybe I shold set them up in my basement and never take them down!

Im fine with people saying happy holidays, but if you put a tree in your house for one month its probably because you are celebrating christmas. I think calling it a holday tree just reeks of too much PC BS.

So my response. Yes I have a christmas tree. I do not have a holiday tree so I didnt vote in the poll.

Its HALLOWEEN!

Same with the "Holiday tree" No, it's a Christmas tree

Atheists need to take the word Christmas and make it our own

Besides, we actually know where Santa lives, at the North Pole...


I've asked THOUSANDS of times where the fuck Jesabus is hanging out but NOOOOO, never get an answer. People can't even tell me if he/she/it is made up of matter!

Now Santa on the other hand is totally real. My daughter sat on his lap last year at the mall! I've got PICTURES! Never seen anybody ever produce a picture of them doing a fist bump with jesus have you?

memories and I don't want to call it anything else.

As for the question, no not yet. Waiting until Thanksgiving

no religious connection ... but, an extreme emotional attachment

I have a 2 1/2 year old. Her playhouse even has a tree and lights

They're replanted every year. It's a big industry for this state.

Some of that land could be productive of food commodities as well and employ more people, but demand places more value on a disposable tree.

Evergreens naturally cover the slopes of hills and mountains. I think farming for food on a lot of this land might not be a good match. The industry definitely employs a LOT of people here, too.

#1. They are sustainable. For every tree they cut down, they plant one in its place.
#2. It supports a local business. The tree farmers in my area are local farmers.
#3. They smell nice.

the trees or the farmers?

Seriously, Christmas trees are great crops here in WA and if I was unwilling to kill a tree I wouldn't be able to live. No endangered species went into the making of my Christmas, I promise.

for the past 6 years. It usually ends up being a Valentine's Day tree as well.

Like a Charlie Brown one.

Christmas tree up this weekend. The cat will love it.

It's white and it has little bulbs of different colors that are lit by a light bulb that fits inside the tree. I always set it up on my coffee table. It always makes me think of my grandparents when it's lit up at night. I'll put it up after Thanksgiving and take it down between Christmas and New Year's.

especially at Christmas time.

She made spares for future grandkids too.

We get a real tree, which we get around Dec 1 and remove on Jan 6. Love the pine smell and lights.

raising my own heathen hoard ..lol..a family of atheist who would never miss xmas we celebrate life in general. Good times, good food, lots of warm family hugs.

Will string lights in windows and outside, put up Christmas decor here and there, and my wife will put several up crèches around the house.

Soy nog with Bénédictine will appear like magic.

as saying "Holiday Candelabra" instead of "Menorah".

The tree is for Christmas, not any other holiday. And I highly doubt that anyone anywhere this Christmas will refer in conversation to their "holiday tree".

Christians preempting the holy days of other religions is an old cynical habit of theirs. They took the Yule Festival, the fall and spring equinoxes - I wonder how the Catholic Church missed stealing the midsummer festival?

http://www.thelivingmoon.com/44cosmic_wisdom/02files/Tree_Life04.html

I like the name "Holiday tree" - it doesn't claim the decorative tradition for any one sect or religion.

My guess is far less than 1% so Im going to keep calling it a christmas tree.

And those people tend to live by the tenets of their beliefs. But I know more people that call themselves "Christian" than actually live by the tenets of their various sects. That is why I am closer to the non-Christians than I am to the "Christians".

My post above was objecting to Nye Bevan's post claiming that decorated trees in the middle of the winter were only called "Christmas" trees. That was not originally true and it still is not completely true.

Literally and symbolically, Christmas is about the return of light to the world.
Mas means a celebration and Christ comes from the Greek word for light.

It we go beyond the literal celebration as many christians view it, celebrating
Christmas is a powerful celebration of light and expansion in the cycle of the
year and in our lives.

As a non-believer, I am for whatever brings joy and enlightenment to people. What I object to is Christians shoving their religion down my throat at every opportunity. That is pretty much the only reason I fight the prevalence of "Christmas" at this time of year.

When it was not made a war on other religions, I didn't worry about the labels. Once "Christians" objected to generic holiday greetings, I was ready to give them the fight they seemed to be looking for.

They would not approve of the way we celebrate Christmas without any religious context.
And their opinion does not matter to me or my family.

Most of the family is OK - it the fundie BIL who insists on things being HIS way. Whenever I can, I avoid going to events at his house, but some years it's unavoidable. Since I do like the rest of the family I want to participate in get togethers. I just don't understand how someone raised Unitarian ends up marrying a fundamentalist!

Fortunately, my celebrations are with immediate family who are all on the same
secular page about this holiday. Family tension like yours, are so sad and interfere
with your enjoyment of the holidays.

If only arrogance and certainty were not part of some peoples belief and they
could celebrate out differences as well as our shared values with humility.

Beliefs are not facts; that is why they are called beliefs (LOL), but then
people like your BIL just do not get that.

The return of the light. So yeah, we kind of celebrate Yule. With a manger scene thrown in. I find the Christmas story an enjoyable myth that I chose to see as a metaphor rather than actual people in donkeys looking for a place to have their child.

I enjoy the ancient Christmas music in much the same way. It connects me to the human
heart, the human struggle. In that way, it is timeless. Ancient peoples struggled with life
as we do. They had no scientific context and so they created myth to describe the mystery.
These myths are beautiful in their own way.

When we celebrate the return of the light, we connect with our heritage as well as the
cycle of life, not such a bad thing to celebrate after all.

She wasn't having any of it. To her, a Christmas tree is a Christmas tree, period.

No presents, no special dinners, no special spending at all. That goes for birthdays and anniversaries, too.

If it takes a holiday and spending money to show how much you love / care for / appreciate your family or partner- then you're doing it wrong the rest of the year.

When a plus just doesn't cut it.

It doesn't take one at all for me to show love or appreciation. I do, every time I'm smart enough to stop taking the people and world I love for granted, and I don't take them for granted much. I just enjoy doing something special then. It breaks up the routine, makes people smile, is as irrational and silly as you can be, and just makes my heart soar. I love the fact that people leap in and participate together in rituals that bind us together. The only thing that makes me sad is when it's used to be divisive.

Celebrations of annual holidays filled with traditions, some old, some new, bring our families
together to share our love and connections. They connect us to times of our past when we were
children or when our own children were young. When celebrated culturally, these holidays
bring us together as a community as they have for millennia. In that regard, they also connect
us with our ancestors who shared these celebrations. And lastly, they connect us to the cycles
in time and the year. To me, Christmas and Solstice celebrations are the most meaningful of all.
I celebrate them with great intensity.

Imagine how our wayback ancestors must have celebrated. Light! Light!

Irrational and silly be damned, I love Christmas. Small kindnesses and appreciation are the way to go all year long.

Whether the celebration is fancy and elaborate or small and homey - it connects people and warms the heart.

Now I'm all fired up! I'm going to pull out my cross stitch ornament patterns and threads and get to work.

But I love my origami ones! My favorites, of course, are the little handprints and cutouts and things my now grown sons made. I was as delighted by those as I would have been gold and diamond ones. I still am.

ended up looking like a jam in a copy machine.

I had things that my sons made when they were little. When I moved east, I left them with the boys. Sometimes one or the other will call when they get them out and we reminisce.

I have all sorts of odd ornaments.

It's not expected, therefore it means so much more to both of us.

kill trees for a damn holiday. Yes, my husband has to listen to me bitch for almost 2 months about it. We have to anchor it to the wall because my cats think it is the most awesome creation ever to come into the house & I spend most of the season picking the balls up around the house because the dogs & cats carry them around.

I have accepted I will never have a grown-up tree, it's always madness.

These trees would never have been planted if it weren't for Christmas. How is buying a plastic tree from China better than buying a tree grown in the US specifically for Christmas?

one every year. It's supposed to be acceptable to just grow all these trees year after year just so they can be cut down dried out then thrown out? Please.

My real tree is biodegradable and they plant a new one for every one they sell.

Why do you think not growing a tree is better than planting a tree and cutting it down? In addition, most Christmas trees are recycled. I would rather plant a tree and cut it down every year than pay to have some plastic shipped over from China.

made in China? Some people have more sense than that, no different than shopping at Wal-Mart, Sans Club or any other factory surplus stores. There are several tree farms around here & it is my opinion that it sucks that people make the decision to have a tree dry up in their home for a month just for shits & giggles. However, it is not as if I protest these actions in anyway shape or form, I merely stated my opinion.

I challenge you to find any artificial trees made anywhere besides China. Why do you think it sucks and is unacceptable to plant a tree and cut it down. Why is not planting a tree at all better?

one year.... It was so heavy that I had to pay two guys to get it in and to plant it afterwards. It smelled heavenly, I cared for it "religiously", put it in the garage afterwards to transition into planting outside and planted on a warmish winter day providing tremendous aftercare the next two months.

It died. I cried.


There is NOTHING like a real tree, but I now put up a small fake one (most years) or nothing at all (last year). Then I go on the annual search to find the BEST candles, reed diffusers and similar to try to recreate the smell that I sorely miss.

I am appalled at how much they charge for "real" Christmas trees in some areas, even though I realize it is mostly transportation costs driving up the cost. And, yes, it is sad to see these beautiful trees all sacrificed for a holiday--but they are farm-raised, so if one gets past the "green house gases" produced to transport them, it is probably a "wash"...

we used to go up to the mountains & cut down a huge tree. I just think it sucks, I hate going to Home Depot after the holidays & seeing huge piles of dead trees. All to have a pretty tree for 2 weeks.

I have been for over twenty years. He brings his trees in from NC
where he buys them from small farming operations.

When I purchase my tree, I am supporting my local economy and
the economy of the US. All the money stays in the US. None of
it goes to Multi-nationals, big box stores or China.

After my celebration, the tree is used in my back yard as a shelter
for the birds and squirrels, then later recycled back to the earth.

All I do is slap on the ornaments, and presto, Christmas is on!

I ask the local director of the part what kind of tree he would like for the park. He tells me and I pick it up. Bring it home, decorate it, and show it great love. After the new year I drive it to the park and give it to the director. He loves it. They now have multiple Christmas trees of mine growing happily in the park.

If you used that phrase on a right-wing site, you'd be getting death threats by now. Spirit of the season, and all that.....

I probably will not put it up, even if I do find it.

and a good friend and local Dem official is a good-sized tree farmer. Please buy an Oregon Christmas tree this year.

I have my husband convinced that we will do the cut your own thing this year.

Supporting local farms and businesses is the right thing to do.

Oh well. I'm likely allergic to my dogs too.

A - I don't personally have a tree up, but it's just me and my 2 cats so I probably don't qualify as a "family". I probably should have sat out the poll.

B - My ACTUAL FAMILY in WI puts up a tree every year, but our family tradition has been to put the tree up only a week or 10 days before Christmas so they don't technically either.

C - If I decided to spend a lot of time and money on something just for me, my own tree wouldn't go up until Dec 20 or so. But the last time I had one the cats pulled it down twice so I just don't bother.

Are you happy?

because mine isn't a holiday tree, it's a Christmas Tree.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other...

I have no problem with people calling it a Holiday Tree if that's what they want, to each his own.

We have a holiday tree. We also celebrate the "christian" holiday like every other christian: we want to receive stuff and complain when we don't get what we want.

I put a bird at the top to pay homage to nature and the roots of Xmas -- paganism. There are a lot of animal ornaments, some sun ornaments and also some Xmassy ornaments I've been given, the kids have made, from my childhood (which was also in a secular, non-religious family). I enjoy the getting and the decorating of the tree.

I have my kids here this year (they are college aged) and so it will be fun. I work for a local grocery chain and they are getting some smaller trees that are still living, planted in pots. I think we may get one of those this year. Love the smell!

We aren't Christians but I love the promise of the light to come. Our winters in the north are long and cold and DARK! Some greenery and lights for a couple of weeks will only do us good. And we'll wrap it all up with a great time spent together. I know they'll be off into the world soon enough so I cherish such times that I have with them!

Julie

We're in the Northwest where you get months on end of mostly gray skies so any light is cheering. And my kids are teens and I'm very aware of the swift passage of their childhoods, too. The tree thing is something we all do together, so it's special.

kids come home with their little ones. This year is their year with the inlaws.

The last time we had one up, I went from the six foot version to a table top sized.

Only a fake one, can't have my place burned down. Christmas is my wife's favorite holiday because it doesn't involve anything patriotic, she doesn't feel left out.

One on the front porch and one in the living room.

I guess they truly are "holiday" trees, they go up the day after Thanksgiving and come down on New Year's Day.

So far I have managed to resist the request for inflatable snowmen on the lawn, reindeer on the roof, etc., and I no longer hang lights from the 2nd story eaves, but the outside tree is well illuminated and I run a string of lights around the porch roof.

I'm not sure how much of this I would do if it were solely up to me but it isn't.

it will go up next week, and probably stay up till May or so before I get around to the take down...

We're atheists and have a Christmas Tree. We call it a "Christmas Tree". We also have lights, presents, etc.

We celebrate the time of year and call that time of year "Christmas" rather than something else (xmas, yule, whatever). We're happy if other people attach a Christian aspect to it but we don't. We attend Hanukkah and Christian events with friends and family (including Catholic services with my mother sometimes and lighting candles with Jewish neighbors) as well as many of events (school, office, neighborhood) where you wouldn't know there is any religious aspect to the time of year (other than seeing menorahs and nativity scenes - sometimes on the same table).

We're happy that friends and family share their religious celebrations with us and that we can collectively celebrate the time of year where kindness, charity, and joy are everyone's focus (except the kids who are focused on gifts).

It's a good time to talk with the kids about respecting other religions and about making your own choices and being proud of them without disrespecting anyone else's choice (they have been worried about telling people they aren't Christian sometimes)

What family?

I don't have trees anymore. I passed on all the family ornaments to my son and his son. They always have a tree. My mom sometimes has a tree. My other son sometimes has a tree. Nobody has a tree today.

My husband does not believe in killing trees for Christ. We both like living trees so we plant lots of them. In the 35+ years we've owned this farm, we've planted thousands of trees, about 20 of them were "holiday" trees.

My holiday and its celebrations are not the kind that include killing trees or shopping.

Putting up our tree and enjoying it are a major part of our holiday celebration.
We have wonderful ornaments collected over a lifetime. Each has significance
and memories, some of loved ones gone. The lights are wonderful, bright,
and energizing at this darkest time of year. It is hard to take it down when
the festivities are over.

One does not have to be Christian to enjoy this traditional pagan holiday
in all its many glories. Many cultures have celebrated the solstice, each in their own
way through out the centuries. I am joyful to participate in such an age old
tradition. Our beautiful tree is at the center of our celebration of love and light.

And yes, we will have one.

The chows never bothered anything indoors or out, but the smooth-coat JRT puppy still shreds anything she can reach. So my tv's on the wall and so is the Christmas tree. I'm thinking about having the basic shape cut out of thin metal so I can paint decorations on it and store and restore it more easily.

but I haven't had a tree for at least 20 years. Can't say I miss it either I'm not a big Xmas person.

Xmas presents? No, I don't do that anymore, and informed my sons, of which I have four (and 2 grands) that when I retired, that's the way I'd go. They're all good with it, except for my oldest, who is as stubborn as a mule. He thinks I'm a terrible, selfish person because I don't do presents. I do, however, make exceptions for my grandchildren, I could never forget the babies.

I do like to make them something (I'm a knitter/crafter), but although I'm pretty accomplished, my sons don't really appreciate handmade items, so there's that. That saddens me....

Now, I do things for each of them randomly, when least expected. I'm on a fixed income, so it seems to work best for me.

We both grew up in the Christian tradition and it was part of family life. We continued the tradition for our family.

Our three kids were not raised in the Christian, or any other faith tradition, just: be kind, be courteous, follow the Golden Rule (or, if you prefer, Kant's categorical imperative).

It's my contribution to the season. On Dec. 6th you can have a tree. Dec. 5th is MINEMINEMINE!! LOL! It works out pretty well; the tree's still going at Christmas and we get it out soon after.

I'm a sucker for Christmas, maybe because we had some strange ones when I was s kid. For years our tree, because my mother had a 60s fascination for that kind of modernism, was a silver thing with only red balls and a color wheel. I joke that one of my enduring memories is the zzzzzzzzing! those metal branches made as we whipped them out of their sheaths each year.

I love a real tree, and every year get one new ornament and one new CD. My collections are strange and wonderful, and the family likes and fusses over them.

And alternately, why put up a crappy aluminum-and-plastic facsimile?

2. I love the smell.
3. It's a tradition. It reminds me of all the happy memories of Christmas trees of my childhood.
4. The presents go underneath it.
5. The Christmas tree farm plants a new one for every one they sell.
6. It's fully biodegradable.
7. Thy candles shine so brightly! From base to summit, gay and bright, There's only splendor for the sight. O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree! Thy candles shine so brightly!

Hope this helps.

My point is just that I can look out a window to admire trees, and they're actual, living trees, doing what trees do best.

All my kids and grandkids are scattered so we don't even decorate anymore.

I have a Christmas tree! -

I think it's made of willow and vines, but it's all gold and is perfect to hang my ornaments on every year. The craft store had taller ones, but this size fits on a table in the corner of the living room.

Ah, memories. We've got grandkids now (as I will tell anyone who listens) but when my daughter was a toddler and we also had a puppy (gah!) I actually set up the tree inside the playpen to keep it and the young critters safe. That's when I also embarked on a long term project of having ornaments that won't shatter if dropped.

Some people can't live without the scent of pine -- I find I can live quite well without the mounds of dried needles all over.

Yes. NOT YET.

That is, imo, the most accurate answer I can provide.