Okay, raise your hand if you’ve ever inadvertently knocked over your Christmas tree. Uh-huh, I thought so. Me too. The latest of which, quite fortunately, was PRIOR to decorating the gorgeous monolith now standing precariously in my living room.

I’m not ready to say it’s my fault the tree went over in the first place. The trunk of the tree was hopelessly curved, making it heavy on one side. All I wanted was for it to stand at less than a 45-degree angle. But it’s not my fault it wasn’t fully tested before my tree stander-upper friends left my home.

While the argument could be made that no sane person would be crawling underneath the tree in the first place, someone had to water it, and that someone was me. So yes, I suppose it IS my fault that the whole thing suddenly decided to take a nap just hours after coming into the house. And I do accept responsibility for the half gallon of water that spilled out over the carpet when it fell.

But today it stands—tall, proud and fully decorated, a glorious sight to behold, and I’m counting fishing line and cup hooks and friends who know how to use them among my everlasting blessings. O Tannenbaum! O Tannenbaum! Wie treu sind deine Blätter!