Why is my Christmas tree red this year? It’s because of Covid.

So, to back track.

Though headquarters for us is in San Francisco, we have a pied-a-terre in Tacoma that we’d rented in February. We got moved in, keeping only one houseplant – a small cypress tree. It needed water maybe once a month or so, and was very low maintenance. In early March, off I went to San Francisco, with plans to return by the end of the month to complete setting up.

Then came Covid. We sheltered in place through March, thinking it would be done in 2 weeks. We waited through April and May, and then finally in June, as things seemed to be getting better, we drove up to Tacoma in one straight 15-hour trip.

Low maintenance, maybe, but not no maintenance. The plant was drying out. We tried reviving it, but it turned a convincing but unappealing brown. So I spray-painted it red.

Now that Covid numbers are extremely high again, we’re having a locked-down Christmas. This little tree seemed very appropriate, so I brought it in and decorated it. (The array of angels and Santa around it are handmade, but not by me. I found them at a vintage store and was quite charmed.)

The star I usually put on top was too large, so this year’s topper is a little angel fabricated from a paper doily.

HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON, EVERYONE, WHATEVER YOU ARE CELEBRATING!