Kentucky Gets Smart About Christmas

I am a Christmas tree traditionalist. Not in the freakazoid Jesus Tree bullshit way, but in the lighting-evergreens-to-mark-the-Winter-Solstice way.

I don't like artificial trees, but I also don't care for the wasteful practice of Christmas tree cutting. Which is why I switched to a live tree years ago - that is, a Christmas tree with a root ball that I plant in the yard.

And which is why I applaud this decision by the Beshear administration:

In a tough economy, Kentucky will avoid even the minimal cost of hauling in an official Christmas tree, opting instead to decorate an evergreen growing on the Capitol's front lawn.

Finance Cabinet spokeswoman Cindy Landham said Monday that Gov. Steve Beshear's administration opted not to follow the traditional route of issuing a public request for a donated tree that state workers typically load aboard a truck and haul to Frankfort.

Turns out the traditional spot for the cut tree in front of the Governor's Mansion is currently taken by construction of a stage for Inaugural festivities, so it's a logistical decision as much as a budgetary or environmental one, but kudos anyway.

We'll see if this is an aberration or the start of a tradition.