I was walking to the bus stop for work this morning, and lo and behold, in with my neighbor’s recycling were a Christmas tree and a wreath – exactly 100 days after Christmas.
Anyone have any neighbors that STILL have these up, or is she the last person in the world to get rid of them?? (And no, lights don’t count – some people just keep them up all year.)
Well, I took our tree down the day after Christmas. However, it has been sitting on the side of my house in its disposal bag ever since. I have no acceptable excuse, just laziness. 
A couple of years ago, my mom took her Christmas tree down at a reasonable time, early January or so. Since she lives in condo complex with a trash bin, she’s not allowed to dump the tree in there. She’d have to drive the tree down to a designated recycling center. She drove a Miata at the time (she borrowed a car to get the tree in the first place), so she never took it to the recycle spot. So the tree just sat in the garage.
Until October.
Then, out of shame, she stole out in the night and put the thing in the dumpster. I guess someone in one of the other units saw the tree in the garage, and hassled her about it being a fire hazard.
It became such a running joke, that my mom then wrote “Ode to my Christmas Tree” about it and read it that Christmas at our gathering with friends.
This year was the earliest I’ve taken my tree down.
I have Nachos4Sara to thank for not being in the running for this dubious prize. She was hundreds of miles away and yet she made me clean my house early in January. She has that kind of power.
My wife is one of those super-sentimental types. The tree had to be up by such and such a date. It had to be decorated in such a way, yadda, yadda, yadda.
However, the day after Christmas she happily agrees to help me take it down.
Now, we had just moved to town and assumed that there would be an Xmas tree pick-up, like we used to have in our old town. I propped it up in the snowbank and it looked just like a regular tree, albeit one that was growing out of the corner of the driveway.
We waited and waited for the pickup. We read the paper, watched the mail and talked to the World’s Most Unhelpful Neighbor (The WMUN). It never came.
Now that the snowbank is just about gone, we were left with a rather raggedy tree. Under the cover of night on Sunday I grabbed it and dumped it in the construction dumpster across the street from us (someone’s building a house). Done and done.
I can see from our dining room window that the WMUN’s tree is laying in his backyard next to the doghouse. shrug
My dad’s tree is still sitting in the back yard. I saw it this weekend and suggested maybe he should get rid of it.
He said he had to cut it up first or the garbage man won’t take it…sort of implying that it was just going to sit there until it cut itself up. I fully expect to see that thing still there in June (or later!)
This last weekend I passed a house by NYU and there was a fully decorated tree proudly displayed in the window.
One of our neighbors has a PERMANENT tree in their living room. At least there is a Christmas tree sized (undecorated) fir visible in their living room through a picture window year round. I can’t imagine a 6 foot potted fir, or wanting to keep an artificial tree up year round, and haven’t yet had enough nerve to ask about it.
I don’t know if it’s germane, but in the next town over (17 miles away) there is one of those year-round Christmas stores, with fabulous ornaments, swags, creches and those little “Christmas Village” components.
People, people, this is why they invented fake Christmas trees. Easy set-up, easy dismantling, no messy needles to clean and most important of all, no disposal required.
Are you certain it’s a fir? My mother had a large Norfolk Pine in a pot for years - appropriately decorated in season. They make lovely additions to interior landscaping!
I’ve got you all beat.
Not only did I just take down the wreath on my door this past weekend, but I have not one, but TWO Christmast trees turning brown on the side of my house. Yup, I have my tree from Christmas '99 out there. Now who can beat that?!?
(note: It’s really not my fault. Well, the wreath is. But every year when I suggest taking the tree to the tree recycle place, Mr. Athena says “I’ll do it, don’t worry about it.” and he never does. It’s HIS fault!)
In my family, we always leave the old tree in the yard until Christmas Eve, then cut it up and burn it in the fireplace. Odd, I guess, but tradition nontheless. Of course, we live in the woods, so a dead x-mas tree bothers no-one.
My neighbor still has Christmas decorations up from 4 years ago. Not just small stuff: a gigantic Santa and 8 reindeer attached to the front of the house. The thing is about 25 feet long. Poor Santa, he’s been in the sun for so long his suit is pink instead of red. And to top it off, this monstrosity was put up by the previous owner. I can’t imagine how someone could buy a house and not insist on having that thing removed before closing.
I pass a house down the street that still has the tree in the window but I haven’t seen the lights on lately.
And, the house in which I have an apartment still has the outdoor lights up (but they haven’t been turned on since Dec.).
I am ashamed to admit that I can beat it. We have three.
Three years ago we moved to a home that is not with in the city limits. In 1998 when we took the tree down we pulled it to the side of the road (like we always did before!) and it sat there for a month. I am an optimist. I figured that eventually the trash men would take pity on me and take the tree. They didn’t.
So I hauled it behind my shop. The 1999 tree went directly behind the shop when it was taken down.
This year tree is still in my drive way. I made Mr. Zumba promise he take it somewhere! If it is still there next month I will give up and move it behind the shop too.
I really believe that Christmas trees (and exterior lights) should remain up and lit until St. Patrick’s day (March 17). My reasons:
-the gloomy part of winter lasts from Feb.-March
-there are no significant holidays between New years and St, Paddy’s day-therefore the lights are needed
When I was a grad student, I had an apartment which overlooked a big old house, in Pasadena . CA. I could look down from our living room, down into the neighbor’s living room-and they had their tree up untill mid-March! I loved coming home every night, and wondering if the tree would still be up!
Now about my present neighbor-he has rotting halloween pumpkins from 3 years back!!
I took the tree down the weekend before New Year’s. But I forgot to put the little knick-knack stuff in the box. The little candles, and Christmas coasters, and stuff. They’re still sitting there.
One of these days…
I still have this years tree next to the front porch.
In my defense, however, it is still green and doesn’t lose any needles when bounced on the ground.
Gotta love being close to the source!!