Of Yuletide and Christmas Trees

I enjoy Christmas.

Maybe more than any grown man should. It's not about the time off and it's certainly not about working in retail, but a whole lot of reasons my own. Well, my own and the whole internet now.

Every year, I put up a christmas tree on December 1^st.

I'm not the biggest believer in christmas, and besides that tree and a time socially acceptable to watch countless christmas movies, I don't have much traditions or things to do and enjoy. Like so many others, I spend christmas alone.

Don't feel bad for me yet, I absolutly don't mind, because I have my christmas tree.

So gather 'round the open fire for a yuletide tale of ages past.

We go back a decade ago, when I moved into my first apartment at 18, after being homeless for close to 6 months. A time where money was pretty much inexistent and hard to come by, with debts to pay left and right; a time where eating one meal everyday was a luxury I could not afford for an entire week.

Needless to say, my living quarters were far from luxurious. When I moved in, the previous owner had left with all the lightbulbs. I spent most of the summer without any because I was almost never inside and the days were bright so it never really bothered me.

Just before the days shorten, when darkness falls at 5PM, I went by my grandma and grandpa's to pick up some mail that was delivered there. As is the case with most family visits, a 5 minute errand turned into a whole afternoon of setting up the Chrismas decorations with them.

Before I left, my grampa, appalled that I didn't have any ornaments of my own, gave me a 1 foot tall christmas tree he made with clothehangers, lights and tinsel garland that he kept in his workshop.

That christmas tree was the only light I had in my appartment for over 4 months. I carried it around from room to room; from November to March until days started to get better, on my end and on the weather's.

And every year comes December, I don't have much to celebrate or look forward to. What I have is a Christmas tree that reminds me that when everything turns to shit and is dark around you, a little bit of Chrismas spirit is all you need.

And I know it looks shitty.

Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals.