Sunday, the 3rd, was one of the most wonderful days of my life! The weekend following Thanksgiving is always long anticipated in our family. It is the day we go and get our Christmas tree. It is a day of togetherness and bonding that we experience no other time of year. Our tree is a symbol of life and freedom through Christ and the celebration of this whole season of His birth. It is more significant than ever as we go to the mountains we love and cut our own tree out of the National Forest. It is just a grand adventure! A Treasure Hunt of sorts.
This Sunday dawned sunny, crisp and beautiful. The snow still clinging to the pine boughs from the previous days snowfall. After church, we gathered around a warm and filling brunch discussing the days events. This family loves gathering for breakfast any time of day! The anticipation was high enough that our mountain loving dog, Abby, got excited as well without being told what was happening. She just knew an adventure was brewing and she would be a part. No one goes to the mountains without Abby and somehow she knows when we are going hiking. I am still not convinced that she doesn’t actually understand human conversation!
Armed with our saw, warm gear, cord to secure our “prize”, we headed off to Woodland Park and the Pikes Peak Ranger Mobile Office to buy our permit. As we wind our way through the Ute Valley Pass, we are met with tree-trimmed vehicle after vehicle coming down the Pass. Ah, no wonder attendance was so low in church today; everyone was up on the mountain! This constant, and I do mean constant, flow of trees down the mountain, builds the excitement and gives a passing thought, will our perfect tree still be there or is it already on the way down the mountain to some else’s home! Silly, Girl! I chide myself. There are so many trees in the forest there has to be a beauty still on the mountain for us! This is not like going to the corner Boy Scout tree lot.
