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Blog Entry 99 of 270 Average Joe. Not.
I was born, therefore I blog. I have a sense of the ridiculous and need an outlet for that. I can be serious too and love to write little stories about little known but important people and events. And I love wildlife and travel and will always try to share those experiences. I make things up (its called fiction) and am amused when readers are duped into believing they are true.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~Maxblogger

Let there be lights

Contributed by: Joe McDaniel   on 12/11/2006

There's something about Christmas decorations; especially the lights. As a little boy our Christmas trees had strings of lights that would all go out when one bulb burnt out, plunging out tiny living room into darkness. So, my brother and I were recruited to unscrew every bulb and try a new one until we eventually found the one that was faulty, and they would all come on again to the cheers and obvious delight of our parents. We would always turn the Christmas tree lights off when we went to bed. The bulbs would get so hot they could easily have set fire to the tree and, of course, to the house. We were terrified that Santa wouldn't be able to bring presents if our house was just a pile of ashes.

I suppose that early experience with primitive lighting forged my fondness for lights. The invention of decorative lights that would actually stay on even if one burned out was a major step forward in the progress of mankind. Nowadays there are so many outdoor lights in our neighborhood that I have to put on sunglasses after dark when driving home. Our humble house is an exception. We plug in one string of lights on the front porch and around the door. It makes for a festive entrance and doesn't run up the utility bill too much. It certainly hasn't put a strain on the Douglas County power grid, but we use a surge protector for our computers, just in case.

I read about the big cottonwood tree in Parker's O'Brien Park that had 10,000 lights on it. It's hard to imagine anyone putting 10,000 lights on a cottonwood tree, so I decided to investigate. Surely such a tree could be seen from the International Space Station.

On Sunday, after sunset, I drove to O'Brien Park and took a few photographs. I didn't actually count the lights on the tree, but had to admit it looked pretty cool. The gazebo is decorated as well, so I took a photo of that. All in all, it was an enjoyable outing but I do feel sorry for the people who have to take all those lights down when the Holiday Season is over.

I could almost hear Bing Crosby singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" in the background.


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Joe McDaniel

Parker , CO

Joe McDaniel has posted 270 blog entries and 379 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Joe McDaniel's average blog rating is 4.94.
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