'It's time to make a decision I'll probably regret for the next year'
11.11.2023 - 06:21
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
It's a question I ask myself around this time every year. It's a decision more often than not I come to regret. I certainly have this year.
It's a decision which leads to great joy and unbridled rage in equal measure. Months later, when I least expect it, it irritates me. Some days it infuriates me.
But at the time, it's glorious. For a few fleeting - but beautiful - weeks, it puts a smile on my face. It makes every evening a pleasure.
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I am, of course, talking about the decision whether to get a real Christmas tree. It's a true festive dilemma.
Exactly 364 days ago, I made the journey to a family member's pop-up tree stall. The sea of green in the pub car park never disappoints.
I was renovating my front room at the time, so I had plenty of space for a big old Norway Spruce. It was an absolute stunner.
It was that gorgeous, it didn't even need decorating. (I mean, I did did decorate it, I'm not crackers).
In the run-up to Christmas, coming home was a delight. The smell, the sheer size of the thing. Magical.
But I knew what would follow. I knew that once the tinsel had been chucked away and the baubles thrown back in the loft, the nightmare would begin.
Needles. Needles everywhere. Evil little needles haunting my very existence.
Under the sofa. Between the floorboards. In the car.
The hoover didn't know what had hit it. Just when you think you've found the last of them, more of the devilish blighters appear. Again and again. All year round.
So once again, I'll argue with myself all the way to that same car park, pick one out, plonk it in the front