The Christmas Tree Adventure

My wife said, "Why don't we try and save some money this year and cut down a Christmas tree? It would be a really fun memory for Liam." I thought that it would be a good idea too. The only thing was that my wife had to work the day we got the tree.

Mine and Liam's trip started out at Home Depot. We had the wrong type of saw for a Christmas tree so I decided to go to Home Depot and pick me up a Bow Saw. All excited Liam and I go out to the garden center where the saw's are at. But little did we know it was a trap or temptation if you will to steal our Christmas adventure away from us.

In the garden center of Home Depot stood row upon row of beautifully cut Christmas trees of all shapes and sizes. after I had gotten what I came for I decided to peruse the different trees. I ended up picking out a resonably priced Doug Fir but as the Home depot boy had a quick errand before he could cut the bottom of our tree off, it gave me enough time to realize I was neck deep Temptation.

After shaking off the near miss of adventure Liam and I headed east to the snoqualmie ranger station to buy our christmas tree tag. Getting some directions from the locals we finally found the station and acquired our $10 Christmas tree Tag. With tag in hand the possibilities were endless. Douglas firs, noble firs, redwoods...none were safe from our newly purchased bow saw. None under 12 feet that is.

On the road again in our new (new to us) 97 Dodge pickup truck with two wheels of v6 power in the back we were ready for the forest roads on a chilly Nov afternoon. The forest ranger people showed us the best roads to go up to the high country to get noble firs. This was good because I really like noble firs and in Bellevue they can cost upwards of $80-$100.

The truck handled excellent going up the dirt and gravel hills in the forest until we came to a patch of ice that was about 15 feet from start to finish. Never driving rear wheel drive in ice before I was a little baffled at what was going on. I was turning one direction and the truck was sliding backwards in another! this was very scary to me as I looked past Liam in his car seat out the window where the hill sloped steeply with trees strewn about it's downhill decent. failure was not an option.

Unfortunately though the more I tried to go up hill the more the truck went down hill towards the cliff. finally I decided to trust the goofiness of this truck and turned the wheels the opposite direction and went towards the ditch on the other side of the forest road. this took a good 20 minutes with someone waiting behind me the whole time.

Finally there was a good Samaratin that suggested I drive my back wheels into the ditch for traction and then he would push my front end on the ice and point me in the right direction. it all worked like a charm and we ended up pointed the right direction but down hill. I knew at this point that we would not be gettint a noble fir for Christmas this year.

I told Liam we would just have to look down one of the offshoot trails and hope for the best. He didn't really seem to mind or understand what I was saying so that's what we did. We found a road that was off the main road heading uphill.

This was a perfect road to start out. No other cars to get in the way. Carrying Liam up the gradual slope wasn't too difficult. We got a pretty cool view of the mountainous country around us too . Liam's favorite part of the whole trip though was this Truck. Apparently rolling down the hill it had come to a very abrupt stop. To add to its nostalgia it was covered with bullet holes. Just what two year olds love! Looking on both sides of the hill we didn't see much worth taking home. So we kept on heading up the hill, Liam in one hand the bow saw in the other. Finally I spotted her...the perfect Christmas tree. It was growing off the side of a steep bank so it was very difficult to get too. I had to leave Liam at the bottom of the hill while I literally went rock climbing to get our Christmas tree delight.

I should have known it was a bad idea from the start. Trying to climb a hill with a bow saw is just not smart. As I climbed Liam sensed the danger too. "Get down from there daddy, get down!!"

I reassured Liam that Daddy knew what he was doing. The closer to the prized Christmas tree I got the harder the climb became. At one point I was only holding onto roots with one hand while I swung my feet over to the next available footing. Finally I get to the prized tree. With the bow saw ready I grab onto the closest root and start sawing for all I'm worth. Just then I hear it...

Liam has fallen on his fanny in a pile of leaves and the world is coming to an end. The sheer scream of Liam's cry is enough to bring a general to attention. Liam is devastated. Never before has he fallen with such humility. Apparently unable to get up from his position, I must traverse down to him. Actually I mostly slid down towards him, hitting rocks and grabbing tree limbs on my free fall down.

I look back up the hill as I pick my crying baby boy up and the tree mocks me from his high position. "Next year tree, next year" I threaten.

Heading down the mountain road with no tree was a disappointment, but I decided to settle on a lesser tree for the year, after all we paid $10 for this thing. Just then my foot clumsly decides to step on a larger than normal rock, and with liams extra weight on my already huge frame, my poor ankle couldn't handle the pressure. It folded like a pancake. Nearly dropping Liam I catch him and put him down safely while hobbling one foot. "Why God, Why!"

Twisting my ankle really good, I am out of commission for at least 5 minutes in the wilderness and snow, with a crying child. I look around and what do you know I found a tree that would work. I cut it half way up its trunk so it would fit in the truck. Slinging the saw on one shoulder and the tree trunk on the other I told Liam he would have to walk. Liam's reply was a flood of tears.

Now with my boy on my shoulders, the saw in one hand the tree in the other & walking on a sprained ankle, it was finally starting to feel like Christmas. The mile walk back couldn't end soon enough and finally it did. Loading the tree up was easy, but getting out the woods wasn't. After an hour of U turns we make it back to the highway not the way we came in and Liam is fast asleep and I am the one crying.

The tree looks more like a tether ball pole with limbs drilled into it...but, it's our tree and we wouldn't replace for anything.

Sometimes when I think about it; I see that God goes through great obstacles to pick out good for nothing tree's. People try to tell him, "why don't you go to Home Depot and replace that revolting thing." "No" He says, "I like this one that I chose. It's not perfect, but we have been through a lot together. Wait and see, I'm going to make what is gnarly, beautiful. It will shine and be as brilliant as a star. No, I think I'll keep this one, I wouldn't replace it for anything."