It’s coming on Christmas
They’re cutting down trees
They’re putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
I wish I had a river I could skate away on
– © 1970; Joni Mitchell
Last weekend Holly and I went to a local nursery looking for a live Christmas tree. What was available was scrawny and very expensive. Then Holly and I came to our senses and remembered that we live on five acres full of trees. We laughed just a little at ourselves.
By the time we arrived back home at the Golden K it was pouring down rain but we were determined to establish a new tradition of cutting down a Christmas tree from our own property. So we put on the best rainproof-cutting-down-Chistmas Tree-gear that we had and headed up the hill to the back side of the Golden K. Back in the days before we went artificial and when we still put up “real” trees we always had pines. It wasn’t likely that we would find a pine small enough so we were hunting for a Cedar.
It didn’t take us too long to find a tree that was suitable. It was a very nicely shaped Cedar about 12 feet high. We carried it to the shop, cut it down to about seven feet and carried it back to the house.
It felt a little bit like when your kids are little and they cook a meal for themselves. They eat the meal as if it was the best food they ever tasted because of the gratification of having cooked it themselves. As we looked at our tree we both felt as though it was the most beautiful tree we have ever had in our 34 years of marriage. I guess because we “cooked it” ourselves…
So like Joni sang, “they’re cutting down trees” at the Golden K and they are in love and they are grateful. And if that’s not a romantic perspective of life at 3100 feet I don’t know what is.
First Christmas at the Golden K
