75,000 Christmas lights. 1 tree. I present: The Magic Tree (Columbia, MO) [pic]
![75,000 Christmas lights. 1 tree. I present: The Magic Tree (Columbia, MO) [pic]](/api/ImgurImages?id=bO76Z)
Posted Dec 29, 2009, 2:42 PM UTC
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My first submission. I took this picture Christmas night. The tree is located just a mile or so from my parents' house. My shaky picture doesn't really do it justice, but I think you can get the idea. These people have been doing "The Magic Tree" for 15 years (my second time seeing it). They have fliers attached to their mailbox describing some of the numbers (and advising people not to honk at all hours of the night or block traffic):
- 75,000 lights, roughly half are LED this year
- 80 hours to put it up
- 120 hours to take it down
It's really impressive, worth the effort to track it down if you're in the area.
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Be warned, if you try to navigate Columbia during bad weather you will probably die. We like to keep our roads nice and dangerous as long as possible.
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Yes we do! Especially roads that aren't Stadium.
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Or Broadway. That being said, I had no idea that there were this many (3?) other people from Columbia on Reddit. I thought I had the monopoly on it here.
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There was a post several months ago asking where everybody was from and I was all like "Columbia Missouri!" and then I got downvoted. You guys let me down. Have you no shame?
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They should use RGB LEDs, so they could procedurally morph the colors.
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That means that in the last 15 years they've spent 125 days putting up or taking down fairy lights. That's true dedication!
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I LIVE IN COLUMBIA WOOOOOOOOT
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Upvote for a Como Redditor.
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Second that. Didn't expect to find so many here.
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agreed, there are a lot more of us on there than I thought.
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I've counted like 6+ so far.
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Woooo, eh?
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Thats pretty good! I got one in Dallas- not as nice a photo - but as a bonus see the google streets link for installation. http://imgur.com/WKou9.jpg and http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&source=hp&q=dallas&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Dallas,+Texas&gl=us&ei=rEkyS7b-O4uvngez5LGDCQ&ved=0CA0Q8gEwAA&ll=32.820911,-96.740885&spn=0.006365,0.009763&z=17&layer=c&cbll=32.82103,-96.740749&panoid=bqo44vKgOq050fjqHm--ng&cbp=12,306.13,,0,-1.92
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The glow on the ground looks awesome.
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That's my favorite part, too.
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That tree is definitely getting cancer.
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...because there's fuck-all else to do in Missouri!
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Acid
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It looks like a rorschach test as seen by people on acid.
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BoCoMO represent!!!
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Hope they don't get tangled when they are taken down...
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This is my new wallpaper; thanks for posting. Cheers!
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I live in Columbia. Where is this tree?
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it's where the smoking stump is
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on Broadway at the Unity Center
I was wrong!: here it is. There are two in Columbia, the real Magic Tree (the one pictured) is apparently much larger, I had no idea nor have I ever seen it. Will check it out tonight.
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That's not it.
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Dang, every time someone talked about it I thought that was it, but apparently there are 2 in COMO, the one in the pic is definiltey bigger and better: here is the website
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Cool to find so many como folks here. Though I think como is now como instead of bocomo b/c of the url not being available (and it's not getting turned over). I was born and raised there and will return one day.
Someone should go to Sunset Ln, one block off of W. Bdwy near D&H. There used to be a house there that had thousands and thousands of lights. They had a tree that hung out over the road a bit, and definitely the sidewalk. Definitely remember going there in all different states of mind at different times - I lived in the big house, two doors West of D&H.
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Thanks! I'll have to go by there tonight, assuming that it is still light up tonight.
Fellow CoMo Redditor for the record.
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Be careful... Old Plank Road is a mother in dark when it's icy and you've never driven it before. Hickam is teeny and there are usually cars all over it when the tree is lit. Plus people just kinda stop at random to get out and stand under it.
And here's a google map link
ps Go Tigers... The boss will be letting us off early for the game tomorrow!
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Pretty awesome when they (finally!) took UofI! My little sister, a Mizzou graduate, taught my 1.5 year old to respond with "TOUCHDOWN!!" (complete with the both arms straight up signal) whenever she's asked, "What does a Tiger say?" It's cute, everyone expects her to "Grrowwl!" but she surprises them and signals 6 points! ;)
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Hey, I know you and I owe you beer.
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Here is a google maps for the location http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&sll=38.953339,-92.361631&sspn=0.00355,0.006657&ie=UTF8&hq=unity+center&hnear=Columbia,+MO&t=h&ll=38.8994,-92.464499&spn=0.007966,0.016512&z=17
Fellow CoMo redditor here as well!!
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that's not it, that's the Burr Oak tree, but it's also quite awesome!
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Reminds me of fractal art.
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I'm dyslexic and I first read this as 'ractal fart.'
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I wonder if you could put bio-luminescent bacteria in silly string?
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It's pretty cool, I have a few crappy pics up too. Link
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hehe, awesome! I've got a few more as well, but this was the best of my batch (I especially like the purple glow on the snow beneath it). The others have moving cars in the frame or are even more shaky (if you can believe it).
It's cool that I'm not the only redditor to have seen it! Columbia resident or just visiting (like I was) for the holidays?
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I've got a couple of better ones, but they aren't online right now. I'll see if I can remember to put them up tonight after work.
I'm living here, girlfriend goes to school here.
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speaking of which, how does Liz like her new computer?
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She loves it, she can't wait to get back to Columbia. Her mom's POS computer is pissing her off.
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even with LEDs, thats gotta be one hell of a power bill
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I'm impressed.
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My mom dragged me to this for about 3 years in a row when I would come home to visit...definitely more impressive now...I think it only had 15K or so the years I saw it.... Oh and I grew up in CoMo, Go Mizzou!
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Heh - I grew up in SoBoCoMo as well, but never saw this dandy.
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where was it..? i left when i was 23 (8 years ago), but never heard of it...
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Man i live about an hour from Columbia. I'll have to see if this is still up on Friday.
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I think it will be. I believe I still have the flier in my car, I'll check at lunch and see if it mentions how long they keep it up. If so, I'll post back and maybe even provide a google maps link if I can find/remember the address. It's definitely worth seeing in person, even if only for a few seconds as you roll by.
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i think i just saw this in avatar
the tree of souls i presume?
Or any of the trees on Pandora when Falcon-Punched.
came here to say the same thing
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