[nfbmi-talk] Tree trimming for blind people?

[David Andrews]

The way I got my tree trimmed a couple times was to hold a "tree 
trimming Christmas Party."  I provided lots of good food and drink, a 
bare tree in the stand, lights, and encouragement.  I asked everyone 
to bring an ornament, and everybody did, and put the lights and bulbs 
and ornaments and garland on.

I am known, or at least was known, for my all you can eat chili 
Christmas party, so I think people were glad to participate.

Dave

At 04:05 AM 11/28/2010, you wrote:
>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