Let the Christmas Games begin!

The waiting is over! The Christmas Games have started!

Those of you who have read this blog in its Yahoo version know this time of year has its own sport - Monkey vs. the Christmas Tree. The tree comes armed with flashing lights, guardian angels, icicle spears and stars. The Monkey is armed with teeth, claws and a determination to strip the tree of its decorations.

The only reason the tree remains standing at the end of the Christmas season is because it's tied to the ceiling.

This year, Monkey is 4. You might think that with maturity comes a disdain for such childish - kittenish? - sports as climbing the tree, snagging a feathered bird ornament and plucking its tail right out of its body. You would be wrong - clearly you haven't met The Monkey.

The one thing those bird ornaments have going for them is they're embedded into branches, and ornament sprays at the very top of the tree, right at the base of the beautiful angel that has adorned the top of Kenny's Christmas trees since he was a child. (Yes, the angel is tied to the ceiling, too - just a precaution, of course, but we don't want the angel to topple to the floor the way it did the first Monkey Christmas! She IS an heirloom!)

The Games this year started as I dragged our tree out of its box and started assembling this three-part, ceiling-high, pre-lit beauty. I had just placed the middle section atop the base portion and was surprised I wasn't getting any..um...help. "Where's the Monkey?" I asked.

Surprise! Wham! Here came a paw, grabbing at my hand. Chomp! EVERYthing goes into the Monkey Mouth. Stealth Monkey had slipped amid the branches and was getting a head start.

I managed to get all three parts of the tree in place, then lashed the top branches with sturdy fishing line to the wood screws drilled into the ceiling beam overhead. The angel, wings wedged into the fishing line lashings, topped the tree even before I tested the lights.

The ornaments came next. Monkey was VERY helpful....

I may have spoiled the game a bit this year. I've draped our beaded garland vertically. In the past, the horizontal spiral around the tree made for easy pickings for The Monkey and daily replacing the lopsided garland I'd find drooped onto the floor every morning.

But the tree is up and decorated. Its pre-lit white lights shine constantly. Strands of blue lights are on a slow-glow setting, and a set of multicolored lights are on random flash for the moment. The crystal - okay, clear acrylic - ornaments catch those lights when they're on, and reflect the living room's ambiant light when the tree's lights are off. It's shiny and sparkly, just like I like it.

The Monkey likes it, too. He's already taken up residence on top of the double skirting under the tree. His spot. His tree. Who needs presents when you have The Monkey?