I've not put up a tree in over 25 years. I'm never home for Christmas.
When I was a kid, we always had real trees. We lived in an old Victorian with high ceilings, and we always had a tree that would scrape the ceiling.
Always had C7 lights on it, as well, never those damned mini rice grain bullshit lights. I LOVE a tree that is awash in lights. Colored lights.
Then, sometime in the 1990s when Mom and Dad got older they threw in the towel and got an artificial tree. Actually looked pretty decent, but we had to use those stupid rice grain lights on it. Never liked it.
Until probably 2009 or 2010 Mom and I went to decorate the tree and... no lights. Couldn't find them anywhere. So, off to Lowes I go, only to find that they were sold out of just about everything... except dark red LED C5/6 size. So, I get 3 strings, only to find out that (on Christmas Eve) they're 60% off, so I end up with 6 or 8 strings. Throw 3 on the tree and have a brilliant idea to put 3 strings, bundled up, into the grate of the coal-burning fireplace. It actually looked like a damned fire in the fireplace (which hadn't been usable in over 30 years).
We had that every year until Mom passed away.
Here's the lights in the fireplace...
Still looks like a fire in there...
Miss that house.