"I began thinking about my declining enthusiasm for Christmas after talking with my co-workers and daughter. There was talk about holiday decorations and especially about Christmas trees. Why, my daughter asked me, don’t we have any decorations up? Why not a tree or even stockings hung for some miscellaneous gifts?

I didn’t think about it until she mentioned it.

I had to admit I didn’t put up even one piece of shiny tinsel or a red-and-white candy cane. The biggest offense, it seems, is that I don’t have a Christmas tree. During those early years, we always had a live tree that filled the house with a pungent aroma. In my very early years, they were cedar trees cut from the Badlands.

These days, I don’t like to see live trees filling garbage bins or lying on the berm after the holiday. I know, I know; these trees are usually from tree farms. But I still don’t like to see them being thrown away or discarded after a few days or weeks.

I tried the plastic or imitation tree route, but I didn’t like it — maybe because the aroma is missing.

It wasn’t until this year that I began to think about my path toward this “humbug” sort of Christmas. Am I wrong to stay on the sidelines of the holiday?"

Get the Story:
COLUMNIST DORREEN YELLOW BIRD: Over time, Scrooge makes more sense (The Grand Forks Herald 12/24)

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