Tag Archive for 'Christmas'

God Invented Christmas Tree Lights

Published
by
Michael
on October 25, 2008
in Fun
. 1 Comment

According to an October 25, 2008, Quirks and Quarks podcast, pine cones give off infrared heat. When viewed with infrared technology, or as “seen” by a particular kind of beetle, the cones actually glow. The beetle that is the subject of the podcast does not actually see the infrared with its eyes, as far as scientists can tell, but it has special sensors on its abdomen that allow it to sense the heat from a great distance, with an acuity that is probably as good as insect vision.

So maybe the Christmas tree lights used to decorate trees during the holidays aren’t so far off after all. They are somewhat cone-shaped. To beetles they may seem perfectly natural!

Christmas At My House

Published
by
Michael
on December 25, 2007
in Journal
. 0 Comments

This is the first year that my family has had Christmas at my place. It is also the first time I’ve had Christmas at my place, since moving here to work at 3ABN in 1999. It was a little bit stressful, since Christmas fell immediately on the heels of the GYC convention. Getting home from GYC was a challenge in itself. You can read all about it at the end of my post about GYC on my Xanga blog.

I had hoped to have a Christmas tree, but a full week before Christmas all the local suppliers (including Wal-Mart, Menards, Home Depot, Lowe’s) were completely sold out. I don’t really care for artificial trees … they just seem so fake … so this year we went without a tree. Well, not completely. My rubber plant and ficus did extra duty as stand-ins.

My rubber plant decorated with Christmas lights — not too bad:

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All the gifts around the plants:

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Because Eugene and Heidi were in a hurry to get back to OHC, we had Christmas a day early this year, on Monday. So for me, it feels like Christmas is already past, even though today is Christmas.

Eugene and Heidi with their pile of winnings:

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My mom and Heidi did most of the cooking, but I did contribute a little bit. I found a recipe for “Apple Cranberry Crisp,” and made that. The ingredients in the mixing bowl looked so good, I had to take a picture. I may post the recipe later.

Granny Smith apples and cranberries — the two key ingredients in Apple Cranberry Crisp:

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Heidi and Eugene purchased this beautiful bouquet that decorated our table:

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We had a really nice and filling Christmas dinner. But I didn’t get any photos of it. The photo below is from our much lighter supper.

Eugene, Heidi, and Mom:

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Finally, in the evening we played a game of Rummikub, and then watched a video (The Privileged Planet). It was a fun day, and I really enjoyed the time with family. Seems like all too soon it was over.

Candy Cane Lane

Published
by
Michael
on December 24, 2007
in Journal
. 1 Comment

Just before GYC, I was with my good ol’ buddy from LifeStyleTV, Claus Nybo. On the way home that December 14, we stopped in West Frankfort to look at Candy Cane Lane. Candy Cane Lane is a series of streets that are decorated for the Christmas holiday, and is an annual tradition for the people of West Frankfort. At the time we drove through, most of the houses were not decorated very well, but the final street was incredible. It was like a cross between midwest lawn decorations and the Las Vegas main drag. (See the video below.)

A section of one of the streets:

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Here is a video I took on Claus’s camera:

The music for this video was taken from this website. Ordinarily I would not think of the “1812 Overture” as Christmas music, and I almost chose another song. But in the end I thought the soundtrack matched the exuberant display perfectly. If I had more footage, I could have done something to synchronize with the music (especially the cannons!), but this was a quick and dirty job.