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pine needles everywhere Christmas ended for me today. Yes, I know that the actual event was a month ago, but the tree didn't leave my living room until late this morning. Performing said act was a little sad. Growing up, I very seldom if ever saw the tree being removed from the house. Obviously my father probably took it outside to be put on the curb for pickup, but I can't remember actually seeing that occur. Overall it was a very simple process if not a little time consuming. Removing the strands of tinsel started to wear on me and I was very relieved to just unwind the strings of lights. As I was circling the tree with the lights in my hand, I could clearly see a ring of needles forming on the carpet. This was to be expected though. I had noticed that the water in the stand had stopped going down as quickly as it had in December. The tree was no longer truly alive and was simply dying a slow death. So in the end it took me two minutes to carry the tree outside and close to forty five minutes to remove all of the pine needles that had been strewn down the flight of stairs. As I was walking down the stairs it seriously sounded as though it were raining. That many needles were coming loose and hitting the plastic runner as I moved down each step. In hindsight, throwing the tree over the balcony from my patio may have been a better option, because vacuuming on a flat surface is so much easier than on a flight of stairs. Plus I have been told that they even make plastic bags to slip over a tree when it is being carried outside. An old sheet might have worked just as well. |