The Cheapest Tree On The Block

Christmas trees run scarce on the islands. Every year they get imported from the mainland, people scramble to obtain one, and then about two weeks before Christmas it comes on the news that they are sold out and that there are no more Christmas trees on the island! Oh no!

The theory of supply and demand then would give you an idea of what local Christmas trees cost...

Regardless, about a week ago I started bugging Scott about getting a tree. Night after night, he came home empty handed. My requests became more urgent. Um, Honey, Christmas is NEXT WEEK and we don't have a tree!!! He told me not to worry. He would get one.

Then the news story came on... no more Christmas trees on the island (actually, I heard it first on Facebook- the real source for local news). Great. We missed out. No tree for us this year.

I told Scott that there are no more trees. Again, he told me not to worry. He told me he knew where he could cut one down. Really? Part of me believed him, part of me did not.

I should not have doubted my resourceful husband, who came home the other night dragging a tree up the stairs! Yay! A tree! Then I saw it. And immediately burst out laughing!! Turns out, Scott stopped along the Pali Highway on his way home from work and sawed the top off of a Norfolk Pine.

You see, Norfolk Pine trees are actually quite abundant on the island, but they are not normally used as Christmas tress. I'm guessing that's because their branches are like 2 feet apart. See?

So while we do not have the fullest tree on the block, it was likely the cheapest. AND the most sustainable, given that it was not imported in and that Norfolk pines re-grow easily after their tops have been sawed off. Scott is in Environmental Science. He should know.

Anyway, the night Scott dragged it in the house, Moana was very curious about this new thing and of course she needed to check it out. It was leaned up again the wall in the corner (next to my bike on the trainer*)... it took about 3 minutes before we heard the frantic wailing of a very scared 1 year old... looking over we saw that she had pulled it down upon herself. That must be scary, to be eaten by a tree. So that's the story about why it's now up on a card table.

*Let's face it, I'm not using that bike trainer. It's been relegated to the patio.