We have a corner lot, and a maple tree in the front yard, and there’s a branch on the tree at just the right height over the corner of the yard, with a bend in it in just the right place, that I can make this work. This year I finally had help putting it together — overlooking quite a lot of grumbling out of Stephen about how cold his hands were while we were doing it — so I was able to hoist the thing up without all the strands getting tangled together and taking hours more to get them straightened out again. Thirty-two 100-light indoor/outdoor miniature strands in all the different colors, laid out with their midpoints crossing, then a rope tied around the midpoints, then haul the thing up and tie off the rope, then stake the hanging ends into the ground spaced out evenly in a circle under enough tension that they don’t sag. It’s a lot of work, but once it’s done, well, the little kids in the neighborhood like it a whole lot better than all the prefab Santas and snowmen and reindeer and whatnot from Home Depot and Lowes and OSH and wherever that get splattered over so many yards.

That smear in the middle, by the way, is the kitchen window of our neighbor across the street. I didn’t notice it in the picture until I snagged it off the camera and started resizing it on the computer. As long an exposure as this required, it took forever for me to take a picture I hadn’t smudged to hell and back. If that weren’t the case, once I noticed it, I’d have asked them to turn out their kitchen lights for a short while so I could try again.

We’ve got half the C7s up, along the garage side of the house. You can see where they end right after turning the corner of the house. Hopefully I can get Stephen’s attention back again tomorrow for long enough to get them up on the front side as well. If so, I might have another picture to post tomorrow.

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