Friday, January 19, 2018

A Wandering Christmas Tree


Yesterday, as I was leaving the house with Olga to go for our morning walk, I found that the night's windstorm had left a gift on our doorstep: someone else's old Christmas tree.

My guess is they put it out with their trash, and the wind blew it to the front of our house.

This was a mild annoyance, but it was mitigated by the fact that the tree was still decorated!


This is one for the "I just don't understand people" files. Who throws away a decorated Christmas tree? (And I'm sure it was thrown away and not just someone's patio decoration -- I never saw it during the Christmas season, and some of the neighbors had put their rubbish out.)

It's the second one I've seen this year -- I passed one the other day lying on the curb, still loaded with strands of lights. In that case I wasn't in a position to unstring the lights and salvage them, but I did take the ornaments off the wayward tree in front of our house. Now Dave and I have more ornaments for next year!

Then I picked up the bare tree -- it was fairly small, just a few feet high -- and carried it to Fortune Green to be recycled. (Top photo)

I just want to shake whoever threw it out and ask them what they're thinking. They're too lazy to store their ornaments? They just can't be bothered with the fact that the planet is groaning beneath the weight of all the useless crap that factories churn out every hour on the hour, so they want to add to the waste by buying more ornaments next year for no reason whatsoever?

11 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

I agree with your final question. Increasingly, people should do what they can to avoid wasting The Earth's precious natural resources. This is why Trump should not be flying down to Mar-a-Lago most weekends and why May and her Tory posse should not have flown to Florence, Italy in the autumn just to make a Brexit presentation. We are all responsible.

Sharon said...

Well that's a new one for me too! I've never heard of throwing out the decorations with the tree. That is extremely wasteful.

Ms. Moon said...

You know, you could write a story about those ornaments. It looks like someone took the time to string red ribbon to hang them on the tree. Did someone die? Did someone get kicked out of their apartment by a landlord? Was there a tragedy of circumstances? Was someone so angry or depressed that they could not bring themselves to do anything but pitch the tree out?
Who knows?
Of course, it could just be flat-out laziness and not-caring but maybe not.
Inquiring minds want to know.

ellen abbott said...

too many people are still just completely clueless but then there could be a sad story as Ms Moon says.

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised that people would toss their decorations with the tree. Does make me wonder why someone would do that. You did get some nice decorations there.

Vivian said...

I'm like that when I get close to finishing a book. By the time I write the last words I am so sick of the thing that I could happily set fire to whole manuscript. Maybe Christmas is like that for some people: by the time it's over, they are so fed up with all the preparation and expectations and logistics that when they de-nude the tree, they get to the last few bits and they just can't stand the sight of it. It has to go OUT, and asap, or they will go crazy. I get that.

e said...

I'm with Mary Moon on this one. I bet there is more to the story...

My Corner of the world said...

I would think that they are too cute to be thrown out on purpose.

Blondi Blathers said...

I never cease to be amazed by the variety of interesting photos you take. I post one of my own to my blog daily and it is not easy (nor do I always succeed) to come up with something worth looking at, but you ... you impress the dickens out of me!

Can't imagine throwing out a Xmas tree without at least removing my favourite ornaments. And they're ALL my favourites.

-Kate

Catalyst said...

I've heard of a wandering Jew but this is the first wandering Christmas tree I've encountered.

Steve Reed said...

YP: Oh, Lord, don't even get me started on the myriad ways Trump is destroying the planet!

Sharon: Isn't it?!

Ms Moon: Well, that is a good point. I guess I shouldn't assume someone is just being careless. There could be extenuating circumstances.

Ellen: I think with some people it's less about cluelessness and more about just not caring.

Robin: Yeah, I thought we did pretty well!

Vivian: Ha! Well, I guess we ALL feel that way about Christmas to some degree. I'm definitely ready to take the decorations down when it's time. But to just pitch them all out? I'm never THAT done with it.

E: Maybe...

Drita: I agree!

Blondi: Well, thanks. It can be a challenge, but it's a challenge I enjoy. It really makes us notice the world more, don't you think? I'll see something funny or unusual and just instinctively reach for the camera, thinking, "Hey, that's blogworthy!"

Catalyst: I wonder if Wandering Jews are still called that. Or is it un-PC these days?