We have established a new sleep schedule! I go to bed around ten on the couch watching crap (50 First Dates last night), wake up around four with some dream inspired half thought, write personal stuff for a few hours, big breakfast, nap, walk, lunch out, consulting work, dinner is whatever is left over from lunch and breakfast, rent movie, rinse, repeat. The pets are uncertain how to respond to these changes. Bozo is on my lap right now and is learning to tolerate the typing, as I am the only one awake to give the loving.

I got the tree two days ago from the VFW and we decorated last night, after the branches had had a chance to settle. I think it looks very classy. It’s a large tree, actually similar to the one we cut down two years ago Brad, except that it’s not quite that tall and the lower branches are more filled in. I put it in the same corner. I don’t think I have a picture of that huge tree from the Eureka trip. I have fourteen-foot ceilings and that one nearly touched. We had somehow managed to get this monster into, not on top of, Brad’s Cavalier and I got to ride the half hour back to St. Louis curled up on top of the tree.

Origami Christmas Tree Instructions: fold down back seat of Cavalier and thread tree top from the passenger side door through hatch into trunk, bending as much as possible to the opposing back corner of vehicle so tree forms the letter C, fold down front seat and wedge base of tree above glove box, slam door repeatedly until closure is achieved, instruct passenger Karl to climb onto tree from driver’s side access and sleep on top of tree all the way home, spend next six months with pine needles and forest fresh scented car.

I remember Erica taking a shot of us in front of it. I’ll have to ask her if I can scan a copy. We didn’t do a tree last year right?

M.B. has this extra nice cast iron tree stand that is very heavy, very stable and very deep. Stable allows the cat to climb the tree, which is inevitable, and deep means less frequent watering; avoiding the danger of having an eight-foot high, six foot wide, dry, dead, combustible health hazard in the living room.

So I just did two strings of soft white lights and minimal ornaments. Angela suggested that people could bring ornaments to our Christmas party, whenever that is. Oh, we are hosting the New Year’s Eve bash. It’s sounding like a Cajun Christmas party with a big ass vat of my gumbo for M.B.’s delectation and then a separate New Year’s Eve party with lots of melted cheese and hangover inducing Champaign followed by a hair of the dog brunch and a possible poker afternoon. There will be no show tunes at this year’s brunch owing to the disappearance of both the piano and whatever that young blond guys name was. Did he have a name?

We spent a few hours last night with the overhead lights off, drinking wine and chatting while we watched the tree glow. There’s something very good about that. I wonder how this custom began? What part of consciousness does it speaks to? The very ancient religious traditions often view the tree as an allegory for the human central nervous system, the trunk equates with the spine and the branches with our limbs. On the Christmas tree the lights and ornaments could stand in for Chakras and the traditional star might be the thousand-lotus petal crown. We have a yoga tree enlivened with the soft glow of consciousness.