There is supposed to be something romantic about getting a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.

It’s something that is supposed to evoke a bygone era where mitten-clad children accompany their parents to pick out the tallest tree and, in a burst of yuletide cheer, take it to their living room and decorate while somebody sings carols at a piano.

But there was less about family tradition and more about the nature of trees that drew Jante Smith to a lot at Pelandale Avenue and Sisk Road at lunchtime Sunday to pick out a tree — another tree.

“We got a tree a little bit too early and it dried out,” Smith said sheepishly. “We kind of forgot about water.”

The idea had been to avoid last-minute shopping by getting the tree up and decorated early. So he got it right after Thanksgiving, and he and his 3-year-old daughter, Keara, decorated. He finished his shopping early, but by the time he remembered the tree’s need for water, it was looking kind of sad, he said.

So he took off the lights and the red and green bulbs and set them aside to redecorate the new tree with Keara on Sunday afternoon.

She might be too young to appreciate the oddity of decorating a tree twice, Smith said, but “she enjoyed it the first time, so I think she’ll enjoy it again.”

A few other people also bought trees. A couple in their 30s or 40s bought one at The Tree Family on Carpenter Road and Kansas Avenue midmorning, said Robert Ceniceros, who works there.

And by noon, two people bought trees at Home Depot on North Carpenter Road. All got deals.

“The prices drop and then come the bargain hunters,” said Kristin Headrick, who has worked at Tracy Trees at Pelandale and Sisk for three years on Christmas Eve. “We tell the customers that want a deal that Christmas Eve is when we’re handing them out.”

Prices on trees that had been $14.95 were slashed to $10, and ones that had been $39.95 dropped to $20.

Last year, 50 people bought trees on Christmas Eve, although the previous year, Headrick said, only three people came by. The lot was scheduled to stay open until dark.

Others already had closed and swept their lots clean by Sunday morning, including one at Seventh and B streets in downtown Modesto and another in Manteca at Union Road and Louise Avenue.

The Save Mart Supermarket on H Street in Modesto ran out of trees several days ago and never dropped the price, said manager Sheri Ward. She said most of the other Save Marts in Modesto ran out, too.

The Home Depot on North Carpenter Road in Modesto still had a healthy selection Sunday. It slashed prices late last week across the board.

“They were pretty excited they could get an $80 tree for $10,” Shari Higginbothan, a nursery associate, said of five customers that came through Saturday evening.

“One of them said, ‘Sorry I’m late,’ and I was like, ‘No problem,’” said Ruben Negrette, supervisor in the gardening department.

He said the store is closed today but would resume tree sales for several days after that. Then, what’s left gets recycled.

At Marty’s tree lot on Lathrop Road, a 45-year institution in Manteca, employee Robert Acosta said he was geared up to sell trees until Jan. 1.

“People are having holiday parties and they want a tree even after Christmas or they come at the end of the year because they’re cheaper,” he said.

Acosta said the lot will come close to selling all of the about 1,500 trees the owners brought in from Oregon. Even with discounts of as much as $30 off trees priced from $40 to $200, selling them is cheaper than chipping them, Acosta said. He had about 30 trees left at 9 a.m.

Much like the tule fog, which required some degree of imagination to accept as a stand-in for snow, the magic of the Christmas Eve tree was in the surprise.

Smith said he never figured he would trim a tree on Christmas Eve. “This is the first time,” he said. “The first time and the last time.”