@bfurnas It's not even a forest! It's just a landscaped yard.

@sephmurtagh Right! This could be Lansing near the mall.

@bfurnas Yeah, it seems weird, but as I think about it, a tree grown in a forest would not be filled out like that. That growth pattern doubtless requires lots of open space with no serious competition for light, water, or soil.

@geowilf The American suburbs have inadvertently become prime conditions for breeding super trees?!

@bfurnas Almost every year! It may become harder to find these trees in the future b/c many people quit planting Norway spruce bc they get so enormous.

@estee_nj I think I always assumed they come straight from Santa’s arboretum near the North Pole.

@bfurnas I need to know more about this!

@bfurnas I like to imagine some monocled Monopoly-looking man from 5th Avenue rings the doorbell on an unwitting Upstater and tells them, “g’day chap, I was perusing the area for the next Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and jiminy cricket I think your Norway Spruce here is the one!”

@Teshyrr Conceded! Though I’ll take a little credit for not sloppily referring to it as “upstate” like many of my fellow NYC-residents would.

@bfurnas OMG, you have got to be kidding. That is so funny.

@bfurnas Wait they use real big ass trees? Like it’s a ritual sacrifice?

@bfurnas My random suburban hometown in CT had one selected growing up - it was a huge deal!

@bfurnas Do you suppose the home owner knows or are they just going to sneak in and take it?

@bfurnas You mean they don’t grow one every year?

@bfurnas When I was growing up in Vegas, the hotels would pay $30k for a 30ft palm tree. I knew folks that grew them in their yard to fund their retirement.

@bfurnas That’s where they always come from. Someone’s yard. It can be quite touching. A grand parent planted it. Family photos with it on the background. Quite an honor.

@bfurnas My mom grew up in suburban NJ, and her childhood neighbor wrote this book about a bird whose tree gets cut down to be the Rockefeller Christmas tree!

@bfurnas The American dream is alive and well