We got our permit and wandered the National Forest again last weekend to find ourselves a Christmas tree from the woods. I have already written about the tradition in another post, so I won’t repeat all of the background info (be sure to visit that post for the Chevy Chase movie scene of which I am always reminded).
This year it was, quite frankly, idyllic. I didn’t post on facebook about it, because I couldn’t think of any way to do it that didn’t sound like bragging. We had two modest snowfalls the previous week, so there was about eight inches of snow in the national forest. The roads were snowy, and the wind was blowing like a blizzard on our drive up into the mountains. We went down a new-to-us forest road that was narrow and slippery. Where the other vehicles balked at the road conditions, gave up, and parked in a pull-off, we continued up the road another few miles (taking our chances, but I had chains and platforms, just in case).
It was stunningly beautiful. We had the woods entirely to ourselves. It was cold but we were prepared. It cleared up to be sunny and calm with blue skies while snow covered the ground. The sounds had that muted quality characteristic of a snow-blanketed landscape. The boys played for two hours sledding in the woods while Karen and I wandered a bit, trying to pick out a tree. We ended up finding one just a hundred feet from the car, and it’s a wonderful tree. Typically one has to settle with a scraggly, sparse, woeful, charlie-brown sort of thing, and that’s totally fine because it’s part of the experience. But this year we didn’t have to settle at all.
Best of all, the boys were really into it this year. Jasper was so excited about decorating that he was shuddering with repressed enthusiasm waiting for the tree to be brought in, stood up, and trimmed, prior to hanging ornaments. They hung so many ornaments at the 0 to 4 foot level (all that they could reach) that I was afraid for the bending branches.
Between the christmas music, the snowy outdoors, the warm cozy house, the fire in the fireplace, the beautiful tree, and the happy joyous family, I felt that I was living some sort of christmas movie.
I am very grateful for my family, and for the wonderful tree experience of last weekend.
