The Spinning Christmas Tree

This year we have a spinning Christmas tree.....a first for the Runyon home.

Two of the Three indoor trees are standard trees decked out with lights and ornaments and stand as sentry's in the basement and living room respectively, but the jewel of the tree collection is the spinning tree that stands and spins proudly in the family room.

Getting the spinning tree up, balanced and decorated was no small feat people. The tree is standard issue - a 10 footer that we've used for a couple of years already. The trick is the fancy motor. The motor is a small unit that requires a skilled craftsman such as myself to fit a piece of wood to the spinner dohickey so that the tree stand can rest securely on the platform as it spins around and around. Sounds easy....it's not.

This job required me to locate the EXACT center of a circle. I knew right away that some serious math was going to be needed in order to do this project. I secretly wished for Alec to be home so he could write up whatever sort of algorithm that I would need to help me. Alas, I just did it the old fashioned way....I eyeballed it, and then started measuring from each side until I felt good about it. I made marks, drilled the holes, and, of course, didn't have the right sized nuts and bolts....so trip #75 during the Holiday Season to Home Depot was necessary. Whenever I go to the HD, I always buy more than what I walked in to get so I came out with an armload of crap PLUS my nuts and bolts. I got home, attached the circular board to the motor, set the tree on top, helped Janae decorate it. In fact, my work was so good and precise that I'm actually a bit surprised that Janae hasn't picked up some sort of gigantic motor that will spin our cars while they sit parked in the driveway. You know, so we don't ever have to back up. You know what a pain that can be.

And so, the trees are up, most of the inside stuff (my part of the drill anyway) is up, the outside lights were up BEFORE Thanksgiving and we're ready for the holidays man!!! Granted, I didn't put the outside stuff up nor have I ever put up lights on this house but the point is they are up and looking good. A few years ago we opted to go with an exterior illumination service that uses their own lights, cords, switches and what not. Russ and his crew will also hang wreaths, put up glow in the dark Santa's, nativity scenes, you name it. Of course he charges a decent fee for all this, but you know what? I don't have to worry about it. Sure my circuit breakers kept going off but that was due to all the rain we had a few weeks ago. I don't think Russ is a real electrician either because, quite frankly, he's baffled by how all this stuff works just like me. How do I know? Because like 20 plugs all end up going into one outlet that's how. And this trial and error continues as GFI switches get thrown, and circuit breakers go off at the strangest times. We just go with the flow. Hey, nobody's perfect. Not only does Russ put up all the lights and outdoor decorations, he comes by after the New Year and takes all the crap down AND stores it until next year! What's that worth?

Oh, and the Eagles won today too.

Peace on Earth.