[nfbmi-talk] Tree trimming for blind people?

Jim Prather (Jim in Detroit james.prather at comcast.net
Sun Nov 28 10:05:57 UTC 2010


Well Fred, you could be more lazy and put an evergreen-scented air 
freshener next to, or a few inches to the tree--LOL!

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Fred Wurtzel" <f.wurtzel at att.net>
Sent: November 27, 2010 22:56
To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Tree trimming for blind people?

Hi Jim,

Mary and I have a stylized star for the top of ours.  It is pretty old 
and
too heavy for some trees.  I sometimes have to trim the point down to 
get a
stem strong enough to hold it up.  But, that is tradition for you.
\
Re: angel hair, I do not think we have any of those ornaments, though I 
do
like them.  The fiber glass is a little irritating to the skin if it is
handled much.

We now have an artificial tree.  I basically object to this, but I am 
too
lazy to fight about it, since I will have to go out in the weather and 
cold
and wet, bring the tree home, let it dry out, mount it in a stand and 
have
it tip over a couple times before I get it right, then clean up all the
needles after we take it down.  I love the smell of a real tree.  I like 
the
ecological reasons for having a real tree.  Real trees create more jobs 
than
artificial and the disposal is more ecologically friendly than a 
plastic,
glass and metal tree.  So, convenience and laziness, in me, is turning 
me
into an environmental hypocrite.  Just like a liberal like me, huh? 
(smile)

Merry Christmas,

Fred

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org 
[mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Jim Prather (Jim in Detroit
Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2010 10:43 PM
To: 'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Tree trimming for blind people?

Does anyone use Angel Hair nowadays?  It was big in the 50s.  Do you put
a star or angel on top of the tree?  Because of ordinances, we can't
have REAL trees in this complex.

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Fred Wurtzel" <f.wurtzel at comcast.net>
Sent: November 27, 2010 21:49
To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Tree trimming for blind people?

Hi,

I prefer starting at the bottom with the lights.  The lights go on
first.
Then garland if you use it, then ornaments then tinsel if you use it
instead
of garland.  Garland and tinsel are optional.  Most people don't use
both,
though there are no rules. We started using garland because cats are
vulnerable to choking on tinsel.  A more earth friendly alternative is
to
string popcorn with or without cranberries and use it instead of
garland.
This takes a lot of patience and that is why I don't do it.

One of the most annoying parts of lighting a tree is knowing if the
string
actually lights.  Our color identifier has a light probe on it, so we
can
use it, now, to know if a bulb is lit.  You can also plug them in and
feel
if they get warm.  Most tree lights are wired in parallel and so if 1
goes
out, they all go out.  I find this to be the most annoying part of
decorating.  So, plug in the lights before you string them on the tree
to
make bulb replacement easier.

Unless there is a window behind the tree, I do not totally encircle the
tree.  I start nearest the electrical outlet then go straight across
proceeding around toward the opposite side near the wall opposite from
where
you start, then go up six inches to a foot, depending on how many lights
you
have and then come back across, keeping the second string as near
parallel
to the first as possible.  Keep repeating until you reach the top  It is
sometimes necessary to adjust if you come up with too few to reach the
top,
or have too many left when you reach the top, though this is not as much
a
problem since you can simply reverse and go back down.  You may end up
with
more lights at the top if you do this, which really isn't a big problem,
depending on how fussy you want to be.  If possible, imagine where most
people will view the tree from and consider that most of the decorations
should be visible from that point of view and look relatively evenly
distributed.  My only rule is "do my best have fun and don't worry."

With the ornaments, I start with the larger ones and try to distribute
them
evenly from left to right and top to bottom.  I then fill in the blank
areas
with smaller ones.  We have been married for 34 years and have lots of
ornaments collected over the years.  Our first tree was just 2 feet
tall,
sat on a table had maybe a dozen ornaments and 1 string of lights.  I
bought
it for $1 very near Christmas and all the needles fell off within a
couple
hours of bringing it into the house.  We loved the tree, just the same.

Some people have theme trees and some people have all the same colored
lights and ornaments.  We are very eclectic.  We have ornaments that
remind
us of people and events in our lives and they range from computers to
pets,
sports, food, reindeer to abstract curiosities.  I like eclectic,
myself.

Hope this is useful.

Merry Christmas and Warmest Regards

Fred and Mary

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of trising
Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2010 7:19 PM
To: NFBofMichigan List
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Tree trimming for blind people?

Nick and I want to do our tree without sighted assistance this year.
Last
year, because of the encouragement of our NFB friends, we
put the tree together and put up the ornaments. This year, we even want
to
tackle the lights. Both of us are totally blind from
birth. We have never seen lights, or been asked to help put them on. Can
we
get some instructions from other blind people who have
put on their own Christmas tree lights?
Terri and Nick Wilcox


--
I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
We are a community of 7 million users fighting spam.
SPAMfighter has removed 707 of my spam emails to date.
Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len

The Professional version does not have this message



_______________________________________________
nfbmi-talk mailing list
nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nfbmi-talk:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/f.wurtzel%40comc
ast.net


_______________________________________________
nfbmi-talk mailing list
nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nfbmi-talk:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/james.prather%40
comcast.net



_______________________________________________
nfbmi-talk mailing list
nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nfbmi-talk:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/f.wurtzel%40att.
net


_______________________________________________
nfbmi-talk mailing list
nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
nfbmi-talk:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/james.prather%40comcast.net 






More information about the NFBMI-Talk mailing list