The Slice: Maybe that’s how they do it in Australia

Rathdrum’s Kandi Burnham saw that The Slice was discussing things your parents did that nobody else did.

(At least according to what their children believed.)

She had one.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume no one did this back in the early ’70s. My parents hung our artificial Christmas tree upside down from the ceiling.”

Kandi sent photographic evidence.

“They decided it was the best way to keep the dogs and cats out of it.”

And it left plenty of room for presents beneath the fully decorated tree.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but Kandi grew up in California.

“People seeing it for the first time, as you can guess, didn’t quite know what to think of it.”

But after hearing an explanation, it wasn’t unusual for onlookers to agree the idea had merit.

“I still have high school friends that remember our upside down Christmas tree. It was quite the talk of the town.”

A local TV station did a story on it.

“My parents always liked doing things, shall we say, differently.”

Her folks kept displaying their tannebaum in a topsy-turvy manner until all the kids had left home.

Kandi takes a more traditional approach with her own Christmas trees. But she wouldn’t trade her childhood memories for anything.

Today’s Slice question: Are summer vacation road-trip arguments the worst because of the closed confines of the vehicle?

I still remember, all too vividly, a 15 rounder my parents had up in the front seat somewhere in North Dakota in 1967.

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Deer usually ignore “Keep Out” signs posted near your garden.