D’oh Christmas Tree

Pre-lit tree problems

One of my favorite things during the Christmas season is the warm glow of a Christmas tree. I love plugging in the tree each evening and take a few minutes looking at it each time, admiring the ornaments from years gone by and soaking in the colorful lights. But the process of getting to that moment of serenity can be quite stressful. Lights magically get twisted and wrapped together during their 11 months in storage (I know it’s me). So to cut down on the stress of unraveling and packing up lights several years ago we were given a pre-lit Christmas tree.

The first couple of years things were fine, but then a section of lights burned out. I tried changing bulbs and fuses but had no luck. So I did what any non-handy person would do. I spun the tree so the burned-out side faced the wall. But a year later more bulbs burned out.

After that incident, I invested in the Light Keeper Pro. The 20 dollar device worked for a bit, fixing most of the trouble spots. But in 2014 when we put the tree together and plugged it in it remained dark. So then the fun started and we made it a family affair.

Snip, snip

My wife and I grabbed pairs of scissors and spent a Sunday evening cutting the wire from the branches. We were literally trimming the tree or at least its faulty wires. It took hours, but we all worked together and spent some quality time bonding as a family. There were some complaints through the process, but we had some laughs too. The funniest part is some three years later, we found one of the snipped wires in the ornament container as we decorated this year. We’ve also discussed the idea of ditching the artificial tree completely after this Christmas and opting for a live one next year.