This isn’t news, but Chuck is a really good sport. Several years ago we purchased a white twig Christmas tree, covered in tiny white lights. We placed it on our front porch, right in front of a living room window and it served as an outdoor/indoor tree for us. Unfortunately it only lasted a few seasons before it refused to light. Chuck spent lots of time trying to get it to light again by methodically swapping bulbs in and out of itty-bitty sockets. Despite his efforts, last year we were treeless. Last week we found a new white tree. This one has LED lights which are supposed to last longer and be much more energy efficient. Chuck did the Tinker Toy thing; assembling the tree and setting it up on the front porch. The LEDs put out any icy white light with a bluish cast, which is actually quite lovely.
But that doesn’t fully explain why I characterized Chuck as a really good sport. Last night I got it into my mind that I would like to take some photos of the tree. But not where it was happily settled on the front porch. No, I pictured it in the center of our front lawn, where no light spills from the house and the woods would serve as the backdrop. Did I mention I wanted to do this at night and that it was hovering around 20 (-6 C)? And windy? No? Well it was all of that and none of it gave Chuck a moment's hesitation. Before I could reconsider, he had an extension cord at the ready and was hustling the tree off the porch onto the lawn. (”A little to the left. That’s good. Now can you straighten it a bit? That’s it. Oh. Back to the right. O.K. Thanks Hon...”)
No grumbling, no mumbling, nothing but his enthusiastic participation. Chuck was my Grip. Actually, he was my Best Boy, Grip and Key Grip all rolled into one! When you’re only one man, the hierarchy snowballs into one big job description. I shot 53 pictures. I love the freedom of our digital camera. I love the freedom to make as many attempts and as many mistakes as I
Yes. I’m counting my lucky stars...
8 comments:
See, it's not hard to make a girl happy. It doesn't take big jewels or expensive outings, just a bit of participation in a bit of lunacy now and again (oh, and painting rooms, that too :)
Hi DMM -
You're so right! Especially the lunacy!
Although the painting of rooms does give me ideas...
;o)
- Lee
So beautifully written. Such a lovely appreciation of the little things that count in marriage. Chuck sounds like a real gem! And so does pink granite!
Your Christmas tree is beautiful and I can't believe you went through last Christmas without one! Shocker... We will only be putting our tree up on the 16th, but there will also be plenty of pictures taken and they will all be up on my blog. Would love to see the view from your porch by day light, sounds enchanting having a forest right in front of your front door!
Where did you get the new tree?
Gail
Hi Poet Mama -
You're right, Chuck is an absolute gem!
Thank you for the kind words!
;o)
- Lee
Hi Sue -
I didn't realize you have a blog! Your name clicks over to a Blogger profile page that doesn't show a blog. If it's a public one, I'd love to have a link!
As for a view from our home, Here's a link to some photos I posted last winter. It actually looks a little like that today - only with more ice!
;o)
- Lee
Hi Gail -
Our nearby WalMart had two different white trees. One was white with regular multi-colored lights. The other was the one we purchased, with white LED lights. The LED tree was a little more expensive, but we hope the savings in electricity usage and longevity, will help to offset that!
;o)
- Lee
LED's are a great idea. So are Compact Flourescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) Did you know: If every American replaced just one light bulb in their home with a CFL, the country would save enough energy to light more than three million homes for a year. That is $600 million in annual energy costs and the equivalent of taking 800,000 cars off the road.
Not bad!
Hi Kate -
Wow! I didn't know all those facts and figures! But I did know that CFLs were a very good idea. We've been using them in lots of places throughout the house for many years. We started getting them back in the "olden days" when they cost an arm and a leg and we had to file for rebates from the electric company!
But the CFLs of today put out a much nicer quality of light than those older ones ever did. Plus, now they truly live up to the "C" for compact in their name. The old ones were huge and hard to fit into some lamps. They also seem to "warm up" faster.
Thanks for the good info!
;o)
- A.L.
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