Oh Solstice Tree...

I admit, not the best picture ever. But it's a pretty tree! I think lit Christmas trees are about as difficult to photograph as black cats.

We did have to move it out of the window because it was blocking all of our light. But it can still be seen from outside, so I can see it when I'm coming home from work. At this time of year, it's fully dark here by about 5.

I was interested in the effect of being both farther south and east of where I used to live, and it turns out that we get 20-25 more minutes of sunlight in the winter than our friends in Michigan, but we get it earlier in the day since we're farther east in the time zone -- so we'd have to get up awfully early to take advantage of it. Darn you, standardized time!