Over the next few days, the air around southeast Texas and the Piney Woods will be cool in the evening. The stars will shine brightly and the October wind will gently whisper the secrets and stories of Halloween to our ears. And naturally, as we contemplate bubble gum in Beaumont, Now & Laters in Lufkin, Sugar Daddy's in Sugar Land, and Peanut Butter Cups in Palestine, a question still remains, "When will you put up your Christmas Tree?"

Almost all of us will get a Christmas Tree and almost all of us agree that at some point during the holiday season, we will be wishing it wasn't taking up all that room in our homes and where we work. Still in these days before Halloween, is now the time to contemplate when it should be "installed"?

For those of us who opt for a real tree, there will also come a time during the holiday season when our vacuum cleaners will be filled with dry brown needles, and the term "fire hazard" will take on a whole new meaning too.

Christmas Trees like a lot of traditions around the holidays are subject to "family law". In other words, you put up, decorate, and remove the Christmas Tree in accordance with the timetable established by previous generations in your family. Sometimes it makes a lot of sense, but for men especially it doesn't.

While each family holds its traditions for the holidays near and dear there are some societal norms that you can't escape discussing once the calendar has turned the page to November. One of those discussions is "when to put up the Christmas Tree"? If you go on any social media site where the topic is being bantered about, you'll find there is no real consensus.

But according to tradition, there is an exact date. According to Christmas Tree World, they should know, right? Advent starts four Sundays before Christmas. If you pull out your calendar and count backward for a "month of Sundays" you'll see the date to put up your Christmas Tree is a lot sooner than you expected.

If you don't have your calendar handy the Sunday that is four before Christmas is November 30th or the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Personally, I think that's a perfect time to put up your tree and your other holiday decorations. Chances are you'll have some time off of work and some extra helpers around the house.

The website Confused surveyed its readers and found that the vast majority of them will put up their Christmas Trees between December 1 and December 10. They count the first day of December as the "unofficial" start of the holiday season.

Besides the great smell of evergreen that permeates a home when a Christmas Tree is present, there is another added benefit. Having holiday decorations on display has been shown to be a good boost for your mental well-being. Seeing all those happy items and remembering all those memories tend to jump-start our production of dopamine, the feel-good hormone, so you could have that going for you too.

The way we look at it, it's your house so you can put your tree up whenever you want to put it up. Just remember, even if it's an artificial tree, you probably need to clean it, like literally wash it, before you put it up, especially if you or someone in your family suffers from allergies.