By DENNIS WYATT 209 Living Artificial or real? According to the American Christmas Tree Association, 80 percent of us that put up Christmas trees will be artificial this year. And if you opt for real the odds are you are going to drop by a big box retailer to select your tree, and not an independent tree lot with the traditional trappings such as a fire pit that went the way of the dodo bird in California due to air quality rules.