Squawk Radio

So last night we had two charming guests, Donna and Monty, who dined with us, drank with us, and naturally admired our gorgeous Christmas tree which almost touches our sixteen foot eight inch ceiling. In fact, it was Donna and Monty who gave us this behemoth and we thank them with all our hearts — and that makes the evening’s events so much more appropriate.

We were all in the great room after dinner, chatting and relaxing. Donna and I sat on the couch, Monty sat on a chair facing us, Scott was on the other couch, also facing us. The tree was off to our right. And right in the middle of the conversation, Monty who is a very erudite, articulate, learned man, suddenly shouts (and I’m quoting him exactly), “Ptrmmble! Shxzmnrt! Argk!”

Later he said he couldn’t find the right words. Actually, the appropriate phrase would have been, “Timber!”

Because the tree fell on us.

It fell in slow motion (the plastic base cracked and the half-inch metal screws in the trunk bent) so Donna and I were able to scramble out from underneath, laughing wildly. (That’s Donna holding the coffee cup and Monte holding the tree while Scott gets a rope.) The guys righted it, tied the trunk to the stair railing and we all sat down and laughed some more.

This was our first Christmas in our new house, and we loved our giant tree, we loved risking our lives decorating it, we loved the pine smell and the beautiful lights, and we’ll never forget this fabulous finish for a great tree.

I hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday season, too, and Happy New Year, everybody!