I have been looking for holiday tree lots to gather some throw away cuttings to do something with and all of the tree lots that used to be are no longer!

I live in the burbs of Washington DC.

Used to be that there were any number of them up and down the main throughfares. Now, not a one, anywhere!

So, yesterday I made the trip north to a small town in a more rural county that I shop in a lot. I am thinking that is more rural and maybe more traditional in that sense and that I will surely find some there.

I found not one there either! And, there were no hand made signs directing you to them and no Boy Scouts selling anywhere in some church parking lot.

Normally on a weekend day in December you will see any number of cars going by with trees strapped to the roof. I saw exactly two! Thats all.....two! If I had of been in the right position I would have signaled to them to share where they got it from. Most likely it was Lowes or HOme Depot.

I am shocked at what a difference a couple of years makes.

The people that sold in tree lots must have to buy a large number of them at one time, and, I am thinking that maybe as the market has shifted away from real trees that the whole manner of marketing has changed and it may no longer be profitable. There were always lots of trees left on the lots.

I knew that there have been fewer and fewer tree lots, but I was not prepared for NO tree lots!

Maybe some parts of the country have a different dynamic going on.

I dont want a tree, but I have always, for many years been able to pick up the leavings and cuttings that I use to do something special with and they give them for free if you ask. After all, they are usually just getting burned in a fire or have to be carted away.

I was looking for one of those tree lots where they have the debris from the cuttings, but I found no lots at all, not one!

Another thing I noticed about being out and about on a December weekend is that there was not a crunch of holiday shopping traffic as in years past. I worked retail in teh 90s and early 00s and you had to jockey for a parking place in the parking lots. Now, the busy shoppers have all but disappeared. At least they have in my part of the world. I can only imagine that there is a lot of online shopping going on. Our local shopping mall is breathing it's last labored breath, and the only other one in this town north of me has many stores that only open on the weekend and nothing else in there opens until 11 AM, if they open at all. There are many shuttered store fronts in them and they seem barren and lonely. That leaves the strip shopping centers with the usual Walmart , Kohls, etc. all of which also offer online shopping.

I could find no tree lots last year either, but I didnt go to the next town last year to look. I am shocked that I couldnt find them there, either. How things have changed!

It may be different where you live.