Christmas trees are a cherished symbol of the holiday season, and the displaying of the real deal instead of a plastic tree is on the rise in North America. According to Statistics Canada, in 2016 over 1,800 farms produced trees for the $77 million dollar market, exporting the evergreens across the world.

The American Christmas Tree Association reports that in 2018 over 95 million homes displayed a tree, with 17.9% of households displaying a real tree. The industry advocacy group has a few pointers on how to keep your Christmas tree fresh and thriving throughout the holiday season. 

Water is crucial to keeping a tree green and fresh while displaying it in the home. The NCTA recommends fitting the tree in a traditional stand with a water reservoir that holds at least a quart of water for every inch in tree diameter.

Other tips include making a fresh, half inch cut perpendicular to the axis before setting it in the stand. A fancy V-cut is unnecessary, can make the tree unstable, and actually reduces the tree’s ability to absorb water. Keeping the outer layer of bark intact will also help the tree absorb and retain more water.

RELATED: This Is When You Should Take Down Your Holiday Decorations

Keeping the tree away from heat sources such as fireplaces, heaters, HVAC vents, and direct sunlight is also a good idea, as is using low heat Christmas lights, and monitoring the water level in the stand, ensuring that the water does not go below the base of the tree.

Other safety tips include never leaving decorative lights turned on when away from home, always inspect light sets before using, do not overload electrical circuits, and promptly remove dry trees from the house.

RELATED: 10 Best Types Of Marijuana For A Joyous Holiday Season

Lastly, never dispose of a Christmas tree by burning it in a fireplace. The small, dry needles can ignite and burn uncontrollably fast, and send sparks all over the house, quickly setting everything in the domicile on fire. The high sap content can burn hot and long enough to set chimney deposits aflame, starting a flue blaze that can spread rapidly. It’s also unnecessary, as many communities have recycling programs available to households.

Nothing sets the mood better than music – and Yacht Rock is still a star

The anthem is Come Sail Away by Styx is the perfect anthem for a dark, cold winter night.  Dreams of a beach, a boat, and escaping helps some survive the winter.  Well, Yacht Rock pairs perfect with cocktails in the summer and evening. Yacht rock is unique music style and aesthetic commonly associated with soft rock, one of the most commercially successful genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. Millennials to boomers have savored the sounds while enjoying drink.

Typified by artists like Christopher Cross, Rupert Holmes, and Pablo Cruise, Yacht Rock is  highlight the casual approach to love, life and a laid back life. Despite being a un-pc, the stuff is irresistible on days you are craving escape. It reeks of sunshine and laziness.

Yacht Rock is nuanced and usually one of the key themes. They are finding the love of your life, having a memorable one-night stand or doing something nautical. Jimmy Buffet and the beach focus is not usually in the genre.

RELATED: 5 Great Bourbons For Fall

Yacht rock is the new hipster music. We have a yacht rock playlist at one of our restaurants, Huckleberry Square and we constantly get comments from all generations about how great the music is. At another one of our places, the notorious dove diner The 5 Point Cafe, when the music switches from the usual punk and metal, to yacht rock, people think it’s amazing, like something they’ve never heard. It’s chill nostalgic and fun goes great with cocktails, what more can you ask for?

“The Pina Colada Song” is arguably the most perfect embodiment of yacht rock, fulfilling, as it does, all three of the qualifications cited above. Holmes sings about making love in the dunes, attempts to cheat on his wife, then ultimately, rediscovers that his “old lady” is actually the love he’s been searching for all along. That’s the holy trinity of Yacht Rock themes, all wrapped up in a breezy story of casual adultery.

To set the mood, here is a recipe for the ideal yacht rock drinks

Easy Pina Coloda

Ingredients

• 1 pound (about 3 cups) frozen pineapple chunks
• 3 ounces (1/3 cup) white rum
• 2/3 cup coconut milk
• Optional garnishes: fresh pineapple slices, maraschino cherries, cute paper umbrellas

Create

• Combine all ingredients together in a blender, and puree until smooth.  If the mixture is too thick, feel free to add in extra rum or coconut milk to help it blend.
• Serve immediately, topped with your desired garnishes.