Plan ahead before you chop or shop

Choosing a Christmas tree boils down to a matter of opinion once the family gets together to make the big decision.

My experience is that most families rarely agree on height, shape, variety and where to get the tree. If there are children in the family, they will certainly want to give some input.

To avoid complications, get a plan going ahead of time. This plan includes determining where the tree will go in the house. That alone could make a huge difference in the height and width of the tree. It really has to fit.

Everyone should understand or be made to understand that sometimes you just can't have exactly what you want. One thing with most of us is the fact that price matters. Christmas tree lot Yule trees can be expensive, but there is where you will find a wider variety of conifers.

Then, there is the go-cut-your-own tree out in the wilderness. My friends and I did it years ago. However, it was the year the snow was 4-plus feet deep.

Not only did we have to wade chest high in it, we had no idea what the tree looked like until a brave husband shook the snow off of it, leaving him resembling the snow-laden tree.

Whatever you decide - if you leave the decision up to one person or do it as a group - you will probably have to live with the outcome.

I remember a relative trying to make my life easier by getting me a tree one year. Wrong. I'm pretty picky about my Christmas trees. No, they don't have to be expensive at all. I've had white firs, Scotch pine, Noble firs and Norwegian firs, silver tip firs and I even had a Colorado Blue Spruce one year.

The tree my family member bought that one year from the Boy Scouts was probably the ugliest tree I've seen. The branches were few and far between. I guess this relative of mine had a soft spot for the Boy Scouts. In any event, I couldn't make her feel bad, so I put this ugly Douglas fir out in the yard, complete with lights. Let me tell you, that ugly, sparsely branched, pathetic-looking thing was fabulous at night.

So, if you are bent on going to the mountains to cut your own, beware, most of those trees resemble ones the Boy Scouts cut. However, if you do come home with an ugly tree, just put it in the yard, cover it with lights and voila, it will be beautiful. Then go to a tree lot.

Each year, I try to choose a little different style tree. I have grown to like the sheared Scotch pine or sheared Douglas firs mostly. The nice thing about the sheared trees is that they shear them to fit virtually any area of the house.

Living in a recreational vehicle for a few years, I missed the full-size Christmas tree. I had to make do with a tiny, tabletop - the kind that comes with lights already in place. I missed the joy of decorating a tree.

Some people refuse to put up a Christmas tree during the holidays. They might decorate the house with some holiday accents here and there, but no tree.

Each year, I ask my friend, "Why don't you put up a tree?"

She said it was work, messy and took too much effort.

Well, the years have gone by and, one more time, I will suggest she break her umpteen-year tradition without a tree.