...that our Christmas tree is sitting undecorated on our balcony. It actually doesn't look too bad from the road. :) Makes me look forward to gardening on our balcony this spring.

The first winter we spent out here, we were confused by the number of people that appeared to be celebrating Christmas into February and March by leaving their lights out on their houses, wreaths on doors and garages, and inflatable holiday characters in yards. Finally, we asked someone why this was, and they told us that it simply is too cold, and the ice too dangerous so people tend to leave up their decorations for a lot longer than in other places.

This made sense, although I am still questioning why people had their lights turned on for all of this time, but I guess that is just one of those mysteries I will never know. Last year our tree was down fairly quickly-- we weren't entirely on the up and up with our complex about our having a live tree in our apartment. I ended up taking to it with some gardening shears and the handsaw that Lisa gave me for Christmas the year we lived together in Winchell Way, after another Christmas tree issue.

Our current home is much more amenable to live trees, but sent everyone a note regarding watering of trees, which was an issue since we were gone for over a week, and advising us to dispose of our trees by throwing them over our balconies rather than carting them down the hall, shedding needles. "Please look beforehand for animals and people underneath your balcony." This warning was well advised, but still somewhat humorous coming from the apartment office.

We typically keep the tree up till New Years, but a combination of Jim's horrible work schedule, my being pregnant and unable to throw and cart a tree to the dumpster and the -35 wind chill turned us into the Minnesotans I had been derisive of just one winter ago. Well, the weather has finally broken (it is now a sweltering 22 degrees) and we have had an actual weekend to enjoy being together and Jim being out in daylight, so this issue should be resolved soon. I'm just thankful we don't have to throw the tree from the 3rd floor and avoid hitting cars in the parking lot from a stray gust of wind.