One of the consequences of going away for the first half of December is you miss a lot. Christmas carols in the stores, decorations, over-shopping, crowds – all that is a bypass. Turns out that is all good. In New Zealand, every time I would catch a glimpse of a Christmas tree somewhere it would feel like an out of body experience, given that it was summer.
But another consequence is it has turned out to be pretty, darned difficult to find a Christmas tree around here past the middle of December. We’ve looked for two days. At the very last possible vendor, a garden centre in Parksville, Mike and I stood looking at the last remaining specimens in the tree lot – tall, scrawny, poor, leftover misfits. We were at last ready to admit defeat.
“We need to go to Plan B”, I said. “What’s Plan B?” Mike asked.
“I have no idea”.
So we poked around and found a few large evergreen boughs, a big green reflective thingy, some pine cones, some overpriced sticks and 100 bucks later poured it all into the trunk of the car.
Here’s Plan B. O Christmas “Tree”:
Speaking of Christmas trees, it would appear that my beloved home town of a gazillion years ago, Montreal, has got itself into a bit of a jam. Intended to herald the upcoming 375th anniversary year of the founding of the city, organizers planned to display the biggest Christmas tree in North America, determined to outdo even the famed New York Rockefeller Center Tree. Well, pissing contests don’t often end well, and Montreal is now a laughing stock, with its tree being named as the Ugliest Tree in Canada (if not the universe). Take a look at trees Canada-wide.
Vancouver – Robson Square 50 ft.
Toronto City Hall – 60 ft
Ottawa – Landsdowne Park
Lansdowne Park Christmas tree in Ottawa Monday Dec 5, 2016. Tony Caldwell
Montreal – 88 ft.
To add insult to injury, the tree has no star, and is decorated with red triangles with the Canadian Tire logo (its sponsor).
Oh, and that rival Rockefeller Center tree? It went even bigger this year and topped Montreal at 94 ft.