goodbye tree

It was our first real Christmas tree. It was a Douglas Fir. And when we first brought it into the house, it made our house smell like the outdoors. When it arrived, it was placed in a newly purchased Christmas Tree stand. It was decorated, and lit up with new energy efficient LED Christmas lights (the cool burning lights, that aren't supposed to cause fires). The Angel was placed on the top. Over the weeks, it saw a multitude of presents accumulate under it's branches. And it drank water so fast, I had to water it every day.
Then, on Christmas Day, the presents were opened, and unwrapped, and only a few unwrapped gifts were set underneath the tree. The tree got tired, and felt sad. It was coming to the end of it's life, so it stopped drinking so much water, and it's needles started to turn brown and fall.
Yesterday, I took all the decorations off, and unstrung the lights. With a final farewell, we lifted the tree out of it's stand, and put it down at the bottom of the driveway. Today, the recycling guys will pick it up, chip it up, and use it for fertilizer or whatever they use chipped up Christmas Tress for.
Meanwhile, I will remember the tree looking like this...

And forever curse it for the multitude of needles it left behind that never seem to get sucked up no matter how much I vacuum!!