The Gnomes Will Be Happy

This is our tree.

We bought it for the tiny gnomes that live under the dining room table, you know, so they’d feel happy at Christmas, like we did something just for them, didn’t take them for granted. It’s important sometimes to bust out with a Christmas tree for your gnomes.

I put a single strand of lights on the gnome tree. When I did, handfuls of needles fell off. It may be cute and all, our gnome tree, but it is fragile. There will be no additional lights, even though what’s there is pretty skimpy and uneven. Any more wrestling with it will have the tree looking like kindling.

I momentarily regretted the gnome tree decision when I went to the attic to get ornaments. I have a lot of big ornaments, ornaments fit for a big tree. I should’ve gotten a decent size tree, I thought. We’re not so old and decrepit that we can’t maneuver a Christmas tree in and out of the house. But I was taken by the cuteness of the tiny trees and the fact that they came already in their own wee stands. It could fit on the table, I thought, or the piano and be the cutest thing ever.

The gnome tree is now decorated with all my bird ornaments along with one little stuffed cat. The actual cat has spent the afternoon hunting a large, slow-moving fly. At some point, his attention will turn to the birds.