Holiday Inflation
The season of Need’n’Greed is upon us. I saw the signs in this morning’s paper. OK, not signs: advertising circulars. Lots and lots of them—all advertising this year’s “must haves.”
I don’t want any of the “must haves.” I tried to think of something I want, and all I can come up with is a new iMac and maybe a digital camcorder. The eMac I use is a 2002 model that originally ran Jaguar and was upgraded to Panther in 2004. It still works fine, but a few more bells & whistles (like the Tiger OS) would be nice. But not essential. I don’t really need a new computer yet.
A digital camcorder would be fun to play with. I could use it to record Maggie’s antics. I could play with the eMac’s iMovie software that I’ve never even used. But I’d probably get tired of it the way I did the VHS camcorder I bought several years ago.
So, I don’t need anything. I especially don’t need some of the new “holiday” decorations—especially a large inflatable snow-globe sort of thing that costs well over a hundred dollars. Why would someone spend so much to get something so big and so ugly and so useless? I wonder—will the giant inflatable decorations extend beyond New Year’s? Think Valentine’s Day decor. Will giant inflatable hearts appear on lawns on Valentine’s Day?
Over the last few years, I've noticed decorations have gotten tackier. Artificial seems to be the norm. Black trees are in. (Black is the new green?) It’s hard to believe that some families might have a tradition of decorating an artificial tree.
As for me, I like my trees living and fragrant. It’s the smell of a live cedar that puts me in the holiday mood.
A walk in the woods is better than anything inflatable, plastic, and over-priced.
I don’t want any of the “must haves.” I tried to think of something I want, and all I can come up with is a new iMac and maybe a digital camcorder. The eMac I use is a 2002 model that originally ran Jaguar and was upgraded to Panther in 2004. It still works fine, but a few more bells & whistles (like the Tiger OS) would be nice. But not essential. I don’t really need a new computer yet.
A digital camcorder would be fun to play with. I could use it to record Maggie’s antics. I could play with the eMac’s iMovie software that I’ve never even used. But I’d probably get tired of it the way I did the VHS camcorder I bought several years ago.
So, I don’t need anything. I especially don’t need some of the new “holiday” decorations—especially a large inflatable snow-globe sort of thing that costs well over a hundred dollars. Why would someone spend so much to get something so big and so ugly and so useless? I wonder—will the giant inflatable decorations extend beyond New Year’s? Think Valentine’s Day decor. Will giant inflatable hearts appear on lawns on Valentine’s Day?
Over the last few years, I've noticed decorations have gotten tackier. Artificial seems to be the norm. Black trees are in. (Black is the new green?) It’s hard to believe that some families might have a tradition of decorating an artificial tree.
As for me, I like my trees living and fragrant. It’s the smell of a live cedar that puts me in the holiday mood.
A walk in the woods is better than anything inflatable, plastic, and over-priced.
posted by Becky Mushko | 1:52 PM
3 Comments:
It scares me how many people haven't ever experienced decorating/having a live tree for Christmas. Our tradition was always going out and selecting the perfect one and then bringing it back, realizing it was too big (of course, lol), trimming it down, watering it, dragging out the decorations, and 'finally' getting to decorate it hours later. Since I moved out and my younger sister has gotten older, she's considering buying an artificial one because she really hates dealing with the real ones. I guess she's had her run but it still kinda makes me sad. :(
And a walk in the woods is definitely *way* better than anything inflatable, plastic, and over-priced.
"A walk in the woods is better than anything inflatable, plastic, and over-priced."
Well said--I couldn't agree more. I hate this time of year and the whole emphasis on unbridled spending, greed, and waste.
Those black Christmas trees sound like the ultimate waste of natural resources.
Here in Portland, Oregon, where I live you can buy a live, potted conifer, decorate it for Christmas, and then have someone come collect it and plant it somewhere, all for about the same price you'd pay for a fake one or a harvested one.
The season is way to commercialized.
But I have an artificial tree because I'm allergic to the real thing. We used to have the real thing until we figured out the tree was the reason I was sick every Christmas.
I do miss the smell of it, though.
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