It’s just like me to come out with a holiday post, post-holiday. Flawed by procrastination (and a few other things, I’m sure), I put off tasks, often to the point of losing the moment altogether. But I digress.

I have one more week to put the Christmas tree out on the curb for Fairfax County’s pickup and recycling. Yes, as much as I care about Earth and all her creatures I still buy a fresh tree for the holidays. I know, shameful. A few weeks before Christmas I was faced with the dilemma of whether to 1. go with the usual 6-7 footer, 2. reluctantly downsize to a tabletop, 3. hold my nose and go “fake,” or 4. chuck the idea altogether. W and I needed to leave town for the holidays earlier than expected and that would leave little time to enjoy it anyway, so I was leaning heavily toward door #4. What nagged me, though, was all of those vintage ornaments and lights living in their own little Christmas village in the basement waiting for their once-a-year debut. Could I really move through the holiday season without seeing them? Uhhh, no. That said, I decided on the tabletop—it would be easier to trim and the price was right—and I wasn’t ready for an impostor. (For a fleeting moment I actually considered that killing a small tree might be less non-eco-friendly than killing a big tree—how is that for a lame rationalization? I sometimes baffle myself.) The poor 4-foot victim took only one string of lights and was trimmed with just a fraction of all our ornaments. I wondered if I had possibly offset the despicable act of choosing a live tree with the energy savings from using four less light strings. Probably not. As far as eco no-nos go, I’m pretty sure that killing a tree trumps using minimally more energy.

So, for Christmases 2009 and beyond, the vintage ornaments will stay and so will the tree—in the ground that is. I resolve to not only spare the trees, but to replace them with something cool enough to showcase the 40-year-old ornaments in a way they deserve.

Now, I have one more week to enjoy the twinklies before I put off taking the tree to the curb.