I did something my mother would not approve of at all on Saturday; I bought a Christmas Holiday (and Hannukah!) tree.

Then I covered it with 300 lights. I wanted it to be so bright that it took down the whole grid, but 300 lights don’t actually go that far. I’m going back to CVS first chance I get to find 600 more.

I felt tremendous guilt about this, and then the requisite twinge of resentment. I mean– what’s more fun than putting  a TREE in your living room and making it sparkle?! It’s hard to keep that from a person who enjoys an installation.

The picture above is the one that goes with the guilt. It’s by Katie Murray and I’ve loved it forever.

But here’s the one that goes with the joy:

It’s from the supremely talented Emily Shur. I actually had no idea she had a tree image but I felt an inkling and I went to her site and THERE IT WAS. In all its saxophonic splendor. Also there were some other pictures in the same, clean, colorful vein, and I’ve included them here for you.

Carson City  Nevada

Koi Fish  Japan

Perfume  New Jersey

South Beach  Florida

Apartment Building  Hong Kong

Site of Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination  Memphis

Construction Site   Hong Kong

Words of Wisdom  Graceland

These are all from Emily’s Personal section. It’s nice when a successful commercial photographer includes her own work on her site. Especially when it’s awesome.