I am fascinated by your writing “Why Do We Decorate Christmas Trees?” because I didn’t know that Christmas trees had to do with people’s beliefs. I also didn’t know that there was a history of decorating a Christmas tree. One sentence that stood out to me was ” There is a story that asserts that he found some native Germans performing sacrifices in front of an oak tree because the trees were sacred to the god Thor, so he chopped down the tree to stop them from worshipping a false idol.” I think this is interesting because I always thought that part of Christmas was decorating a tree. I never knew that at first Christmas trees were bloody. Thank you for your writing. I look forward to what you write next.

Nice, comprehensive history, Kaylee! What I find most interesting is the Christmas tree’s arc from pagan symbol, to its appropriation as a Christian symbol in Germany, to its popularization from British royalty. This history of the Christmas tree reminds me a bit of the history of Halloween. I wonder how many other traditions we carry on today follow this same trend of being passed from one culture to another.

I think these cool historical tracings are right up your alley as a writer, and I also think that they’re insightful because we almost always take the complexity behind some of our most beloved traditions for granted. I’d love to read a similarly formatted follow up to this piece on a new subject.

Speaking from experience– you are right, Kaylee! I do think of “ghalazio” and “ble” as two totally different things. In fact, when I was in Greek school, and I’d refer to the stripes on the Greek flag as “ble,” I’d get scolded! What I perceived as just a difference in semantics, my Greek school teacher perceived as a lack of respect/patriotism/decorum/attention to detail.

Really cool topic for your blog!