As I prepare to finish my holiday shopping I’m encouraged to learn about an expense I have so far avoided this season. The nine-foot “Starry Night” artificial Christmas tree by Frontgate costs $2,474 — though you can score another tree from this brand for a mere $999.

I learned this from a Washington Post article this morning, which also contains these tidbits: Americans prefer fake trees by two to one. And last year 63 percent of Republicans said they planned to buy an artificial tree compared with 44 percent of Democrats.

In this house the trees are always real … though never say never.