Soon after we purchased our current home 23 years ago, we planted some small pine trees in the backyard at the edge of our property.  Over the years these trees grew and began to encroach upon each other.  About 10 years ago, we decided that it was time to begin thinning the trees and decided to harvest one as a Christmas tree.  I treked to the end of our lot with our kids and we took turns sawing on the trunk with a hand saw until we were able to fell the tree.  While the tree had looked rather small from the windows in our home, we suddenly realized that it was much larger and heavier than expected.  We had difficulty dragging it up the hill to our house, so we found a tarp to roll it onto and used that to slide it up from our backyard into our driveway.  Once in the driveway, we were within range of a power outlet and used the electric saw to further trim the tree down to size.  Unfortunately, when we tried to bring it in through the back garage door, it still didn’t fit the doorway.  Eventually, we decided to try bringing it in the larger front door, which also gave us the advantage of being a straight shot into the family room so we wouldn’t have to “bend” the tree around corners.  After much pushing and shoving, we were able to ram the tree through the front door and up the stairs into the family room.  We then hoisted the tree into an upright position, only to find that it was still too tall and scraped the ceiling at the peak of our 14 foot cathedral ceilings.  At that point we lowered the tree and took the electric saw to it again (inside the house, no less) until we had shortened it enough that we could hoist it upright without making marks on the ceiling.   As I remember there were additional difficulties keeping it upright and in place once we got it positioned, but all in all, my kids loved the tree preparation process, enjoyed decorating the tree, and lighting it up every night during the Christmas season.

Ten years later only two of our four children still live at home, and my wife had purchased a synthetic tree to use this year.  However, one Saturday when my wife and I were out running errands, one of our married daughters came home for the weekend with her husband and some friends, and decided that the ritual must continue.  When my wife and I arrived home, the yard and the driveway were strewn with extraneous tree limbs.  In spite of the fact that they had measured the tree first (a new mandatory process which we adopted after the first year), they had still overshot the ceiling and had to do additional emergency surgery to get the tree to fit.  Nevertheless, they managed to complete the job and once again we have a floor to ceiling length Christmas tree gracing our family room.

As I reflect upon what I learned this semester in my digital communications class, I was reminded of how my original small flip phone has grown into a giant iPhone 6s Plus that I can barely get in and out of my pocket.  A device that seemed rather small and inconsequential at the time has morphed into something that consumes my attention a good part of each day.  The latest news, stock reports, and weekly download of the Economist magazine distract me and captivate my attention way too much on an hourly basis.  I plan less and just react more.  I don’t need to know how to get anywhere, just fire up the map app, plug in an address, and I’ll get there without any planning, …..well……. most of the time anyway.  As the year draws to a close, I resolve that even though we didn’t downsize the tree this year, there’s still an opportunity to downsize my phone, or at least the obsessive, incessant checking of the latest notifications.  It’s important to set it aside more and allow myself time to plan and organize my life.  It’s important to stay focused on the many other truly important tasks that need to be completed by the year’s end.  And, finally, it’s most important of all to spend more time each night sitting on the couch, admiring the tree, and contemplating the real meaning of the Christmas season.