Because we were Jewish, and in olden days there was no such thing as a Hanukkah Bush, my family never had a tree during the holidays. We used to drive all over our area of Southern Connecticut looking at other people’s Christmas Lights, which was super fun. There was one house that was magnificent. It had a Santa and his sleigh flying off the roof into space as well as multiple lighted trees and a variety of other decorations. They added new ones every year.

When I was a tween (which really wasn’t a thing back then), my Uncle’s girlfriend, who I always considered my Aunt Maud Ann, started inviting us to decorate her Christmas Tree. She had gorgeous family ornaments and had very elegant taste, but allowed us to dump tinsel on the tree, and my Dad who was usually snoozing on a chair. I’m sure she rearranged the clumps of tinsel later, but was gracious enough to never say anything to us.

It was New Haven, so we’d go out to Modern Pizza afterwards. As they sing in “Fiddler On The Roof,” ‘TRADITION!’

When I first moved to Los Angeles, my only holiday decoration was a particularly unattractive Menorah that I’d bought in Israel. In my defense, I couldn’t find one that was pretty, and really wanted a Menorah from Israel.

I still use it. It’s still boring.

After I moved into my first house, I started to embrace decorating for the holidays. I bought a tiny live tree sadly reminiscent of the one in a “Charlie Brown Christmas.”  I bought a single strand of lights and a drugstore package of shiny ornaments.

The living room/dining area had a huge bay window, and I plopped the tree in front of it, and plugged in the lights. Every night I’d sit and bask in the festiveness. I’d plant the trees after a few years when they grew too big to remain in a pot. Most never survived, but I tried.

The front yard of my next house, the ranachette in Chatsworth includes a round pen that at one time apparently housed a hot walker. It is way too small for anything but mini horses so it serves no purpose for me.

 But there are electric outlets and it is surrounded by pretty white fencing. It was begging to have lights strung around it.

That first year I was fairly restrained. I hung white lights along the top rail and bought a timer to turn it on and off. It was pretty and almost elegant.

Maud Ann would have been proud.

As time went on I bought a slightly bigger live tree and decorated it with a some colored lights and my ornaments. By this time I had acquired a few Breyer ornaments including Seabiscuit and War Admiral. Subsequent years have seen the addition of Zenyatta (of course!) as well as Justify and American Pharoah. I also hung some lights on the mantle over the fireplace.

After the holidays I’d always transplant the tree to a bigger pot and use it for about three more years. Eventually I planted it, probably a little too close to my fence line. That first one is now about 20 feet tall.

I planted the next tree (also three years old) in a corner where the dogs had already dug a giant hole. I was pretty sure that it would die. It hasn’t exactly thrived, but it is hanging on.

A holiday miracle? Maybe.

Eventually I hung a second and then third string of lights on the fence around the round pen. Three was too much, so I settled on two strands.

One year at Halloween, Home Depot sold live sized skeleton horses. I bought one, named him Otto put him in the round pen and covered him with orange lights. The next year I added a smaller horse, Chunky.

Instead of putting Otto and Chunky away after Halloween (the best holiday there is!) I just switched the lights to white and blue ones.

Ta da! Festivus horses!

The next tree went into the back yard. A few years later I saved a tiny live tree a friend was going to toss and planted it too.

I’ve run out of places to put live trees, so it became apparent that I needed to stop buying live trees. I have a big back yard, but I need to make sure hay trucks can still access the barn. Also I want to look out the window and see the horses, not a forest of scraggly evergreens.

Last year I purchased my first cut tree.

I have realized that there are certain things that people can only learn in childhood. One of those is how to do seasonal lighting. If, as a kid you don’t learn how to store and test lights, it’s a yearly nightmare when it’s time to hang them.  They are tangled, and the one strand that doesn’t work is the third one you hung. To fix the problem, you have to disconnect them all and start over.

Swearing is involved.

 The other lesson I’ve learned the hard way, is that you need a village to place a tree in a stand so it is straight. My first cut tree sported a definite tower of Pisa list. This year, I recruited some friend to help.

It made a huge difference.

This year’s tree was pretty big, probably five feet tall. I didn’t mean to get a big tree; it looked so much smaller in the lot.

Oh well, I bought a few more drugstore ornaments and moved on.

It was straight, but I placed in the room badly. Whenever the dogs charged through the room, they scattered shiny ornaments all over the place.

I didn’t care. I loved this tree and the warm light it threw every night when I plugged it in. I even lit a fire in the fireplace a few nights.

It was delightful.

Unfortunately, it’s time to put everything away. The outdoor lights go first. It always takes about an hour, including dismantling the horses and storing them in an empty stall.

The tree takes a longer, because I treasure some of the ornaments. I carefully store those including the ones I purchase at every racetrack I visit, the Breyers and the precious Yellow Duckie I was given this year.

When everything is put away, I’ll take the tree over to a barn with goats and let them go to town. Goats love eating trees. *****

That night I’ll be super sad. My front yard will be dark again. My living room and my life will be a lot duller.

But then I’ll remember it’s only 10 months until Halloween.

****If you do plan on giving your tree to goats or other animals, make sure it doesn’t have tinsel and hasn’t been treated with chemicals. You can tell if the branches near the trunk are greener than the ones on the outside.