[Qball]

We had real ones and fake ones when I was a kid. Since I got married, nine years ago and had kids, I insisted on real trees. We had a few whoppers. One year, this tree was so sick that when you walked across the floor, you'd hear needles falling off. Christmas day, after the festivities were over, my wife had me remove that fire trap from the house. There was a green needle trail where I walked this abortion out the door. After that, I discovered the Scotch Pine. We really liked the look of it and it kept its needles quite well.

This year, her parents gave us their old fake tree. I haven't really been into Christmas this year so I told her it'd be fine if we put up this faker. I'm not really hating it. I don't miss filling the stand with water and falling needles. I do, however, miss the pine smell.