Thursday, December 4:
After deciding that I’d buy and set up a Christmas tree this year – I thought Domino, as an only child, really NEEDED a tree – I set about to research where I could get one at a really good price (think CHEAP), that would not look cheesy and would be the right size in proportion to the area in which it would be installed.
My Library Assistant actually found me a tree online at Home Depot. It was perfect: a 4 ½ foot, Jackson Spruce, pre-lit with 250 clear lights. OK! I was getting in the Christmas spirit. I ordered it from work last Thursday, December 4. Got the email confirmation later that evening from HD that my order was “in process”. I was good to go and feelin’ the spirit of the season!
Friday, December 5: Alas! On Friday evening I got another email from HD saying my order had been cancelled. No reason was given, but I did call the toll-free number to find out what had happened. The representative could not tell me why, but did offer to re-order the tree for me. OK. Christmas spirit suddenly snatched up with in email, but re-gained with the second order all in a matter of minutes.
Wednesday, December 10: Another email from HD. The order had been cancelled AGAIN. Calling HD once more, a better-informed representative told me the tree was out of stock, and that no more would be coming in. The Grinch had stolen my tree!!!
My Christmas spirit was in the crapper. The search for The Tree seemed bleak. It looked like Domino would not have his tree. My assistant, less deterred than I, looked on the Internet and found a similar tree at Lowe’s. It was a 4 ½ foot, Deluxe Aspen with 200 pre-lit clear lights. (The Grinch had stolen 50 lights off this tree; however, I would still get a tree!) But guess where it was?!? In west Dallas, just off I-30 at Cockerell Hill Rd. At best a 45-minute drive in rush hour traffic.
OK. I thought, “I can drive there and back in 90 minutes, giving 5 minutes in the store to purchase the tree, and get back for dinner at my church by 6:00 p.m.” Followed, I might add, with our 7:00 p.m. dress rehearsal for our choir cantata. Picking up Domino right after getting home from school and with him riding shotgun, we made somewhat of a mad dash up I-35 to I-30, hooked a right toward Dallas, put the pedal to the metal, and got out there on the road with all the other crazies during the beginning of rush hour.
When I got to the Lowe’s, there was my tree. Sitting behind the register in the Garden Center. Just as had been promised to me. A nice employee even put the tree in my trunk, and in just under 5 minutes I was on the freeway headed back to Fort Worth. Mission accomplished!
We got back home just a few minutes before 6:00 p.m., and after getting Domino settled, I left for church and the evening’s activities.
As I think back on this adventure, I’m not sure why I got so desperate for a tree. I think it’s because once I’d decided to get a tree, I was going to get a tree. Nothing more, but certainly nothing less. Upon this tree hinged a lot of my Christmas spirit. While I know Christmas is not about trees – or gifts, or parties, or lights, or any other of the many “trappings” of the holiday season – I wanted one to help me celebrate this special time of year. I assembled and put it up late this evening.
After deciding that I’d buy and set up a Christmas tree this year – I thought Domino, as an only child, really NEEDED a tree – I set about to research where I could get one at a really good price (think CHEAP), that would not look cheesy and would be the right size in proportion to the area in which it would be installed.
My Library Assistant actually found me a tree online at Home Depot. It was perfect: a 4 ½ foot, Jackson Spruce, pre-lit with 250 clear lights. OK! I was getting in the Christmas spirit. I ordered it from work last Thursday, December 4. Got the email confirmation later that evening from HD that my order was “in process”. I was good to go and feelin’ the spirit of the season!
Friday, December 5: Alas! On Friday evening I got another email from HD saying my order had been cancelled. No reason was given, but I did call the toll-free number to find out what had happened. The representative could not tell me why, but did offer to re-order the tree for me. OK. Christmas spirit suddenly snatched up with in email, but re-gained with the second order all in a matter of minutes.
Wednesday, December 10: Another email from HD. The order had been cancelled AGAIN. Calling HD once more, a better-informed representative told me the tree was out of stock, and that no more would be coming in. The Grinch had stolen my tree!!!
My Christmas spirit was in the crapper. The search for The Tree seemed bleak. It looked like Domino would not have his tree. My assistant, less deterred than I, looked on the Internet and found a similar tree at Lowe’s. It was a 4 ½ foot, Deluxe Aspen with 200 pre-lit clear lights. (The Grinch had stolen 50 lights off this tree; however, I would still get a tree!) But guess where it was?!? In west Dallas, just off I-30 at Cockerell Hill Rd. At best a 45-minute drive in rush hour traffic.
OK. I thought, “I can drive there and back in 90 minutes, giving 5 minutes in the store to purchase the tree, and get back for dinner at my church by 6:00 p.m.” Followed, I might add, with our 7:00 p.m. dress rehearsal for our choir cantata. Picking up Domino right after getting home from school and with him riding shotgun, we made somewhat of a mad dash up I-35 to I-30, hooked a right toward Dallas, put the pedal to the metal, and got out there on the road with all the other crazies during the beginning of rush hour.
When I got to the Lowe’s, there was my tree. Sitting behind the register in the Garden Center. Just as had been promised to me. A nice employee even put the tree in my trunk, and in just under 5 minutes I was on the freeway headed back to Fort Worth. Mission accomplished!
We got back home just a few minutes before 6:00 p.m., and after getting Domino settled, I left for church and the evening’s activities.
As I think back on this adventure, I’m not sure why I got so desperate for a tree. I think it’s because once I’d decided to get a tree, I was going to get a tree. Nothing more, but certainly nothing less. Upon this tree hinged a lot of my Christmas spirit. While I know Christmas is not about trees – or gifts, or parties, or lights, or any other of the many “trappings” of the holiday season – I wanted one to help me celebrate this special time of year. I assembled and put it up late this evening.
Saturday, December 13: Today I will decorate our tree with angel ornaments that I’ve collected over the years. Domino will have his tree this year.
Merry Christmas to you & yours.
Merry Christmas to you & yours.
May the true gifts of this season be yours
now and throughout the New Year:
Hope, Love, Joy, & Peace
Hope, Love, Joy, & Peace
