Burning the Christmas Tree, 1970, by Marshall Poe

From MemoryArchive

Who: Marshall Poe
What: Burning the Christmas Tree in the Fireplace
When: 1970
Where: Wichita, Kansas

My mom is something of a do it yourself-er. When I was a little kid, my dad left and she was left to fend for herself, or rather for herself and two kids, me and my sister. During the holiday season, fending meant making sure we did all the holiday things. So when Christmas came around, we trundled into her VW bug and got a big Christmas tree. It was huge. We put it up, trimmed it, put presents under it. All by ourselves. Turns out dad was something of a distraction (all that drinking), so we had a grand old time. But then Christmas was over. The tree, however, remained. We stripped it of its decoration, and there it stood, naked, unattended and unloved. My mom really didn't know what to do with it. What do you do with an old Christmas tree? I believe it was me who suggested that the best thing to do was cut it up and burn it in the fireplace. Seemed logical to me: what were fireplaces for if not to burn trees? My sister agreed and my mom said we should give it a try. So we got a hatchet and chopped it up, right in the front room. My mom lit a little fire and we began shoving the branches into it. I don't know if you've ever seen a dry pine branch ignite, but it's quite a sight. They explode in flames. But we were undeterred by the flames and intense heat. We continued to shove the bows into the fire. It got larger and larger until the flames were rolling over the edge of the mantel toward the ceiling. The heat was so great that it backed us way from the fireplace and out of the room. It began to occur to us that maybe burning the tree was the wrong idea...

Luckily, the fuel in the fireplace was exhausted and we re-entered the room. Some smoke damage, but nothing serious. Our house was in one piece, as was our family. And I learned an important lesson: don't burn your Christmas tree in the fireplace.