CHRISTMAS LIGHT EXPERIMENT

I think Christmas trees are so pretty! I remember Mom sitting in the living room one night with the lights off, just looking at the lighted tree and quietly thinking.  I need to do that more instead of looking at the phone, or the computer or whatever distraction is at hand.  I took this first picture with no flash and no light around the tree.

 This picture is with a flash and is my least favorite.

This is the photo I like best and I took it with no flash, but I turned on a table lamp behind the tree so light filtered through the branches.
  Epiphany is nearly here and it will be time to take the tree down again.  When I was a little kid it always made me melancholy when Mom took the tree down because Christmas was such a special season filled with expectation and wonder and I didn't want it to ever end. It is still a special time, but I think Amazon has made things too easy for me, and made it too easy to stay indoors, and away from the hustle and bustle, the lights, the excitement of shopping.  I went to Abilene shopping one day this year and by the end of the day I was not in the Christmas Spirit--too much driving, hunting for stuff I couldn't find or maybe didn't even exist, so maybe next year I need to plan a few parties at the house, invite some friends over and get in the Spirit of Christmas that way.  Anyway, I am sorry to see Christmas gone again, but now we have a new year and I am going to make resolutions and really try to work on them.  I have big plans for 2019!