Ribbon Candy and squishy grapes

"Our stockings, full of squishy grapes and ribbon candy, will hang from nails in the panelled wall of the front room next to the red brick paper fireplace for at least another week. The ornaments on the tree are haphazardly arranged, and no one plugs the lights in anymore. None of my brothers are told to crawl under the branches with a plastic pitcher of water to fill the stand and the needles get drier by the minute. By the time the tree makes it to its final resting place in the backyard, its branches will be bare, grey sticks, the once green needles nothing more than brown confetti strewn across our living room carpet. We will get rid of the things in the spring, burning the tree skeleton along with the half-wet cardboard boxes, wrapping paper, and other trash that just seems to collect in our yard over winter." -The Present in Through the Elephant Ears