7/n We had a blast, safely, today. Everyone masked. #CRBoxes placed in rooms where we ate and drank, i.e.: unmasked. No more than 8 people at one time. I continuously monitored #CO2; it varied between 500 and 800 throughout.

Our guests enjoyed going through our hundreds of #Ornaments collected over three decades. There are even some heirloom family ornaments from the #1960s.

This group is more recent, befitting a #Queer / #Gay household.

https://flic.kr/p/2o6ARaB

#ChristmasTree #SolsticeTree

5/n Even 600 lights wasn't enough. I had to add a third strand of 300 lights, for a total of 900. I'm pretty sure this is the most I've ever needed to light a tree to my satisfaction.

As I spend more time with it, I'll probably tweak some placement and even out the distribution. But I am very happy with the final results.

https://flic.kr/p/2o6akpZ

#ChristmasTree #SolsticeTree

3/n This tree is big enough that I "needed" three layers of lights - core, inner branches, and outer branches - to get the effect I wanted.

Here it is after adding the first 300 lights, which only partly filled in the middle branches. You can see the outer branches are still dark.

The second string of 300 lights is ready to be added on.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/52565778447/in/datetaken/

#ChristmasTree #SolsticeTree

2/n I put the lights up on #ChristmasTree #SolsticeTree 2022 today.

I am particular about how the lights should look on the tree. Over decades, I've honed my technique.

I start by running lines of lights from the base to the top, as tight as I can against the trunk of the tree. This starts to create a glowing "core" to the tree.

Given the size of this tree, I ran four lines up and down the trunk.

Here's the first of 300 lights, against the trunk.

https://flic.kr/p/2o6aE5x