Our Christmas Tree

Decoration by Yoshiko, star placement by Gregory (actually, I took the picture before placement of the last golden bow on the top branch)
We set up a Christmas tree in the genkan at my mother-in-law's house last week. It's the first time for me to get an artificial tree; back in California we always went to a Christmas tree farm and got a..whatever it was, Douglas Fir or Scotch Pine. Japan has lots of pine trees, but they definitely aren't shaped like Christmas trees, so it's artificial or nothing. If you set up an akamatsu pine, some retired guy would come along and wire up a bunch of bamboo poles to shape the branches and make it look more "windswept."

We have a lot to be thankful for this year, so I feel a lot more Christmas spirit than the usual cynical commercialism.