the things I think about

There was a fly on the window today, wandering about in a way that seemed to denote desperate confusion as to why it could see the light but couldn't fly any further. And this got me thinking of flat worlds and what the edges of them are like, and invisible force-fields. And then I got to thinking of philosophies fom the fly's perspective. Perhaps some would say that there is nothing beyond this house, and others will say there is, or even that they have been there, although everyone thinks they are crazy. And some theorize that what you see "through" the forcefield is actually just a picture visible on the forcefield. And then of course you have philosophers pondering why there would be pictures of things that appear to be beyond? Was it for hope, was it to make you think about things beyond your small place in the world, was it a nasty joke by a trickster god? And the conspiracy theorists who say that it's all part of an experiment made by giant aliens to study the psychological effect on little creatures of seeing somewhere you cannot get to. And still others say to just come away from the walls and stop bothering about it because what does it matter anyways when there is life to be lived in here.

Tree Decorating

We all have different ideas about what makes a good christmas tree, Noble or Douglas, White or Coloured lights, Themed or Sentimental, Bought or Hand-made decorations, Garlands, Edible Treats, Tinsle, Flocking, etc. But there is good and bad decorating technique which applies across the board. Probably this is all old news to you, but I was thinking about it and decided to procrastinate decorating by making a blogpost! ;P

The important technique is what I call "Stashing." Trees are 3-dimentional objects and ought to be decorated that way. Simply winding a string of lights around the tree and hooking some ornaments to the outer tips of the branches makes for a sad and droopy tree after a few days when all those tips have begun to sag under the weight, not to mention it tends to look like a hokey cluttered bulletin board.

First off it is very important to put the lights IN the Christmas tree. Since many decorations are made to have lights shining behind them you have to put the lights on so that they CAN be behind the ornaments, rather than all on the same plane. When the lights are Stashed back inside the branches not only will the tacky wires be hidden, but they will create a much more 'twinkly' affect when you walk around the tree as they wink in and out of view behind the greenery, and they will create better patterns on the walls when the other lights are turned out. As I put the lights on I like to make a swervy path as I go around putting some way back in near the trunk and some closer to the tips, especially in places where I might want a light shining directly under an ornament. It's convenient to scout out the nooks and alcoves while putting on the lights and be thinking about where you might want certain lights arranged to coordinate with certain ornaments. While it may not seem like the lights inside by the trunk are doing much, they help give more dimension to the backdrop and create a warmer glowy feeling. Without lights back near the trunk, the inner recesses of the tree are dark mysterious caverns instead of cozy nesting places for your decorations.

When you're ready to put on the ornaments please, oh please, don't go for the 'pin the tail on the donkey' technique. It may seem counter-intuitive, but to really show off the ornaments you need to partially hide and/or frame them in the natural alcoves created by the branches. You want the ornaments to look like they are part of the tree, not just tacked on. I know you want to SEE and Show Off your ornaments but it's more imporant that an ornament looks like it belongs where it is by how well it fits in it's nook, rather than being visible from every angle. Search for natural windows into the tree and place some decorations further back inside those windows, and some closer to the front. In larger nooks it's often good to put a second ornament back behind the primary one. It can also help the overall affect to have a few ornaments that you don't care to see too much hidden back in the tree just to catch and reflect more light back there and add a bit of colour. Branches will droop less as well when heavy ornaments are placed futher in on the sturdier part of the branch rather than the flimsy tips.

Also, keep in mind how much the ornament may weigh down the branch, especially once the tree is past it's prime, and try to leave some room below it so that it won't just be sitting on the branch below by the end of the season. Don't be afraid to fenagle things to make the ornament hang at the right hight and angle. Sometimes I have to re-bend the hook, shorten the string, drape it over several branches, or attach the hook several rows up and let the weight of the ornament pull it down into the right position. This can also be usefull in creating a larger space in the nook above it. Use the smaller bits branching off the main branches to help hide the hooks or strings by pulling them out in front once you've hooked an ornament on, and never forget to re-fluff the needles of a branch you slid a loop over so they aren't laying flat underneath it. You don't want the tree to look like it's being strangled, suffocated, or confined. The ornaments and lights should look like they are it's 'fruits' which hang naturally among it's branches, so put in a little extra work and fluff out those little branches and needles around all those strings and hooks.

Finally, keep your clippers by you to groom and create nooks if you're having trouble finding good spaces for everything. Sometimes smaller banches behind an ornament can make it hang oddly and clipping them back a bit will solve this. Same goes for branches that are covering up a nook too much. The key is creating a frame for the onament to sit back inside, and the fuller Douglas firs often leave little space for ornaments among their branches. There's no reason you can't trim off more than just those extra long rogue branches. When all your ornaments are comfortably ensconced in their little windows the tree will actually become more engaging than if all the ornaments are creating an outer crust of clutter. The twinklings further back in the tree will draw the viewer in and invite them to explore the nooks and crannies and thereby view the individual ornaments in detail, while at the same time allowing the tree itself to feel like a cohesive whole, rather than a cluttered heap.