Dear Wigleaf,

I'm lying on the couch taking a break from decorating the Christmas tree. My girlfriend is googling "How to stop Christmas tree from shedding." It's our first time getting a real tree and we've been insecure ever since we picked it up from Home Depot: Why does it keep shedding? Why does it look so dry? Did we choose wrongly? Can it last till Christmas?

The tree looks feral, out of shape. I prune it. I take the top off too much and now it resembles a shrub. My girlfriend considers the cost of getting a new tree. We rotate the tree to catch a better angle and more fir needles fall to the floor. The sky darkens so early these days. It's hard to wake up some mornings, when the windows are draped shut by grief, but today the air smells like fir and resin, the Christmas tree is still alive, and the ornaments are arriving tomorrow, in the mail.

Love,
Grace