December 2024

Artificial.

In this day and age of instant gratification, everyone wants everything right now. Being able to order something online at 8:00 AM and getting it delivered by 5:00 PM is awesome. But then when we get cranky when it doesn’t work.

I have been looking for a small artificial tree for my home office. I’d like to have a little bit of something in the background of my Zoom/Teams calls to bring some merriment to the experience. In addition, I wanted a constant reminder as to what season it is, because even though we’ve lived here for even four years, when I look out over the desert landscape I still think it’s some time in July.

I have a plan for this little tree in my office; a plan that will warrant a separate blog entry when the whole affair comes together. In the meanwhile, I have been on the search for an artificial tree, and more specifically, an *unlit* artificial tree.

They are not easy to find.

Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, Lowe’s… they all have plenty of trees with plenty of LED lights already installed. We have a tree or two that has non-functioning lights on a very functioning tree, so we end up putting more lights around the lights that don’t work. I don’t want to get into that situation again with this tree. So I’ve been on the hunt for an unlit artificial tree.

I finally found one on Target.com, and it’s only sold through target.com. UPS reports it will arrive on Friday. I like that. It’ll give me some time to get the tree up and still have a few weeks of enjoyment. I trust UPS more than the United States Postal Service these days. I’ve seen stories of packages going from Nashville to Seattle by way of Puerto Rico. I recently had a package take five days to get from Phoenix to Tucson. I know I-10 can get backed up at times, but that’s ridiculous. And yes, I know it’s the busy season.

I’m looking forward to when the tree arrives and I’m looking forward to bringing the festive vibe to my office. Even if it’s only July.

Decorating.

There has been decorating this evening. I’m feeling the holiday spirit a bit more than I was 24 hours ago.

The family time together was wonderful.

 

Video: Hiking Mount Lemmon – Lemmon Rock Lookout Trail

I had a great hike down the Lemmon Rock Lookout Trail to the Wilderness of Rocks trail yesterday. My starting point was the highest parking area on Mount Lemmon. I tried a few different video recording techniques with my iPhone 16 Pro in this video, and I talked about some new accessories I have built for my adventures.