The chapter opens with a discussion about Christmas trees. It's the time of year when everyone goes to buy a tree, so it's hard to choose a tree that's appropriate for the occasion. The narrator tells us that he's never decorated a tree before, and that he doesn't know how to rate one. He tells us about his mom, who always puts up a Christmas wreath on her front door. One time, she yelled at him because he was so hungry he ate some apples her mom used to decorate the tree with. Even though the tree is huge, the narrator thinks it looks just like the one he and his mom had at home. He asks his mom if she'd like to put a star on it, and her response is that she would like to do it in the same color as the tree.