Yule Ramblings #1: The Lyons One

Setting up our Christmas tree each year is like taking a walk down merry memory lane... We don't decorate by theme. We're not classy enough to be traditional nor hip enough to be modern. In fact, our artificial evergreen is just kind of a blurred, jumbled Lite-Brite mess when you look at it from afar.

But to us, our family tree has this authentic scrapbook-quality to it. When you focus on each ornament, one by one, you realize that they each tell a short tale of how our little family came to be. In fact, each trinket bypasses ornament status and lands on timeless symbolic meaning.

So for each Earth rotation over the next 25 days, join me as I tell the tale of one of our family Christmas tree ornaments.

This little Diddy brings back sweet, sweet memories. My official introduction to Dale's Pale Ale was at a Red Rock's Concert circa 2008. I thought the branding was vintage and fairly free spirited, plus, I love beers in cans. Less spillage. Less breakage. More enjoy-age.

Colby and I had our first date at Oskar Blues in Lyons, CO, where I, of course, did the ladylike thing and ordered a family-sized platter of vegetarian nachos as my meal - and a pint of One Nut Brown Ale to wash it down. Talk about dainty!

So fast forward a few months, we are looking at our scrawny Christmas tree - It was the $20 6-foot tall variety that came from a battered and bruised box. This particular tree was plagued with a permanent slant to the right, so you had to prop it up against a wall. The attached hinges were rusty at the joints. Each day, it shed dozens of tiny PVC needles that refused to be vacuumed. And it wasn't just sans a few branch tips, it was missing an entire section, leaving a gaping hole near the bottom. (More room for presents, I reckon.) Anyway, I owned no formal ornaments at the time. But fear not, Colby and I have always been masters of improvisation. We happened to have a few loose Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ales and Old Chubs in our refrigerator. And so, the tradition began. We gulped those shiny cans for the good of the season and wedged them right into the branches. They reflected the icy white LED mini lights brilliantly.

Plus, these oversized ornaments take up a good deal of real estate on the tree. So the decorating impact is pretty substantial. And let's not overlook the enjoyment factor whilst emptying in the cans. Where does this decision land on the Impact Effort Matrix? High Impact/Low Effort: Totally nailing the upper left quadrant sweet spot... thankyouverymuch.

Needless to say, we refresh this tradition every year ;)

Oh yeah, and the Foo Fighters would go on to play a super secret show at Oskar Blues a few years later. And more importantly, Colby and I would have our wedding reception in their barn out back shortly after that, complete with fried pickle appetizers. We continue to honor the finest from Oskar Blues for their contribution to our Christmases (and memories) past. Salud.