Christmas Tree 2020

The day after Thanksgiving is no Black Friday in the White house. It's Christmas tree cutting day in the mountains! We packed turkey, rolls, a bow saw, a snow shovel, our trusty Flexible Flyer sled, and our $5 Forest Service Christmas Tree Cutting Permit, and caravanned with our friends the Kannely family to our favorite spot off of Highway 12 near White Pass. On the way we listened to an audiobook--Sammy Keyes. We did have to stop once for an anti-barf-break for Rose (and me). Thankfully, we stopped before she was carsick enough to puke, and that fresh cold mountain air revived her (and me) nicely. The Kannely family patiently pulled over and waited for us weak-stomached White women to regain our equilibrium. Ten minutes later, we were back on the road, and fifteen minutes after that, we reached our destination.

Jeff parked our minivan in the SNOW, assuring me that he brought a snow shovel to dig us out so we would be fine. I swallowed my irrational snow-car anxiety and we bundled up for a Christmas tree hike. The snow was crusty from a melt-freeze cycle. Consequently, it was pretty slick in some spots, and we ended up hiking single file for most of the way to the clearing. Six Kannelys plus five Whites made quite the long line! Once we arrived at the clearing, the two families split up to scramble through the trees in search of the perfect Christmas tree. 

Since this was our fourth (or fifth?) year cutting a mountain Christmas tree, Jeff and I used our vast experience to redesign our tree choosing strategy. We hiked in farther than usual and searched for a 20 foot tall tree--the max height allowed by our permit. In the past, we've only looked for trees that were short enough to fit inside our little house, but the short trees were always so young and skinny and bendy, we could barely hang any lights on them. Last year we had to pad our tree's thin trunk with a dish cloth so it would fit in our stand. After much deliberation, we selected a nice solid tall tree, and Jeff began sawing away at the trunk. 

Cutting down the tree took much longer than usual because it was a much thicker trunk than usual! This was a good start. When the trunk was nearly fully severed, we gathered the kids out of the tree's trajectory. Jeff had me scootch in under the prickly branches with him and push the tree over while he kept sawing. It was satisfying to push over a twenty foot tall tree in the forest! Jeff then sawed off about half of the tree and manfully hauled the tree back to our sled in the clearing. The tree was so big, the sled didn't do much, but Jay and Rose helped make sure it didn't fall off the sled on the way back to the car. 

The moms and kids shared thermoses of hot cider and hot chocolate while the dads lashed the trees to the van roofs. Then we all helped push the minivans out of the snow because both vans were totally stuck. I breathed deeply and pushed with all my might, and was surprised at how easily the van came loose. We all joked that the real reason we "brought the Kannelys along" was so they could get us out of the snow. 

Once we were clear of the snow, it was a peaceful 80 minute drive back home, where the decorating began. Jeff trimmed another couple of feet off of the tree and put it in the stand. We cranked the Carpenters' Christmas music and pulled out our Christmas boxes. Amber hung most of the ornaments on the tree, and I kept sneaking up behind her and taking down the super junky ornaments that she made in preschool last year. I quietly tossed the worst ones in the trash. Some tacky homemade ornaments are lovable and sweet, but trust me, these ones weren't. Jay and Rose got distracted from decorating when I got out the pumpkin cheesecake. They decided to play a game of chess while they had their pie break, and the decorating was mostly done when they finished.

This was our best mountain Christmas tree ever. It has actual branches! It smells divine! We hung four strands of lights on it, so it glows BRIGHT! I want to keep it forever.

Danae took this picture of Jeff and me pulling Amber uphill on the sled. 

Our long long line, trooping through the slick snow.

Amber brought her snowball maker and played with it joyfully the entire time.

Sawing

TIMBER!!

Look how mature our tree is! I always feel a little bad cutting down trees, because they work for decades to grow tall and then we just go hack them down in ten minutes. 

Traditional tree family picture! I propped my phone in the snow for this picture.

The descent begins.

The descent continues.

There is a sled under that tree, not that you can tell.

It was a gorgeous day! My heart has missed these mountains, and it felt wonderful to be back in that pine-fresh air.

The van doesn't look stuck, but it was stuck. 

Pushing vans out of the snow made us feel strong!

LOOK AT THAT PERFECTION! The trunk is so straight, and there are so many branches!!

Chess and Pie. 

All finished! I had to trim the bottom branches shorter because they were blocking the hallway, but it did start out more triangular.

So BRIGHT!