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Joined: Nov 2003
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Only God can make a tree
Yes, but is a tree cut off from its roots a "tree", wwh?
A chicken cut off from its head is dinner.
A tree cut off from its roots is lumber or fuel or, perhaps, a fading remembrance of a tree, stripped of its joie de vivre.
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
You poooooor folks who don't live where i do. The residents of My Fair Town complained to the town officials that the schedule of picking up undecorated Christmas trees at the roadside on Jan. 3rd was inconsistant with celebrating the Christmastide from Dec. 25 through Jan 6th (The 12 days of Christmas) --- so we now have roadside pickup of discarded Christmas trees on Jan 4 and on Jan 12th.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I think that I shall never see a billboard lovely as a tree.
I didn't know until last night that "hoarding" was a synonym for billboard.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
My tree, now undecorated except for a very large plastic bag, now reposes on the curb.
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Joined: Nov 2003
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The residents .... complained ... that the schedule of picking up undecorated Christmas trees at the roadside on Jan. 3rd was inconsistent with celebrating the Christmastide from Dec. 25 through Jan 6th (The 12 days of Christmas)
It seems to me we are mixing up our rituals here.
The 12 days of Christmas is one ritual.
Leaving the Christmas tree up until the 12th day of Christmas is another.
Some rituals have meaning. They enlighten and enliven our faith.
Others are simply ... well, rituals.
An "epiphany" is "a sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something". In the Christian faith, that manifestation is the essence of Christ.
It occurs to me that leaving a Christmas tree up, day after day as it drops its needles, until the essence of the Christian spirit becomes manifest on the 12th day, is an ill-conceived ritual, or, at least, a dispiriting one ... at least it is for me.
I would rather plant a seedling before Christmas and see it come to leaf on January 6th.
To each, his own. :)
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
It occurs to me that leaving a Christmas tree up, day after day as it drops its needles, until the essence of the Christian spirit becomes manifest on the 12th day, is an ill-conceived ritual, or, at least, a dispiriting one ... at least it is for me.
For those of us who have followed this ritual (and *reconceive from the past) the trip to buy/cut/remove from storage a tree comes as close to Christmas day as possible, therefore making them the same ritual.
It seems that 'time' is always "getting in the way", isn't it?
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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today in church, the woman responsible for taking down the holiday decorations from the sanctuary invited anyone who wanted to help, the opportunity to "undecorate." big  seems like the word has taken hold.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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A small but faithful band of Episcopalians braved temperatures in the teens today and gathered to keep the Second Sunday of Christmas. I floated the question of what to call the removal of ornaments from the tree. Not wishing to bias anyone's response, I held back most of what I have learned from our little discussion on this board. No one suggested "undressed" but when I did, it received near universal acceptance and even acclaim. Bless you, maahey. You're the winner, in my book.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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what to call the removal of ornaments
Don't avoid the question. What is undecorate if it isn't a word?
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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Sorry to have violated the (somebody's) rule against avoiding questions. Here is my amend:
"Undecorate" is, or appears to be, a barbarism.
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