Christmastime!

The Christmas tree is twinkling in the flickering candle lights, carried by its thick green branches. The candles remind one of the stars in the sky at the birth of Jesus. The smell of the fresh tree fills the room and whoever is standing in front of the beautiful and dazzling tree is pulled into the remarkable vivid memory of childhood: the excitement and joy, the tension and anxiety of which we are "full to the brim" are just some of the feelings one can briefly express. Father Christmas has neatly arranged the presents under the tree and several hungry eyes, belonging to both young and old, cannot await to reveal what lies beneath the paper wrappings.

The tree is one of the main keys to the real Xmas feeling. Yet, which tree should be chosen? This is a difficult question because it will be joining the family and friends throughout the Xmas celebrations, it will be decorated passionately and the family will gather around it to celebrate the Nativity, the birth of Jesus, in peace and harmony. Should it be a real tree, created by Mother Nature with its characteristic smell, just to be used for this particular upcoming Xmas? Or should it be an artificial imitation, which unfortunately does not share its fresh scent but therefore can be used more than once? It is best for every family to judge for themselves, this might take a really long time and some really long family debates, but in the end everybody will be delighted. So, take your time.

Nevertheless, once one has made this delicate decision, what about the safety? Should we use real candles with their glowing, sparkling light which cannot be left out of sight or should we choose the safer electric lights (thanks to Thomas Edison) where we can decide if they should be colourful or even blink?

In addition, what about the disposal once Christmas is over? How long does the tree normally remain indoors? The real tree is biodegradable and easy to dispose of, yet what about the artificial tree? As you can see there are many questions we should thoroughly think about while the Christmas feeling arises.