Christmas trees

Today I had to go to the "Springs" to pick up some dishes that my dad sent with a friend, who left them at her brother's jewelry store in Woodland Park. It was a beautiful day, and as soon as I left the interstate to head into Woodland Park, I noticed that every single car had a Christmas tree--either in it, on top of it, or in the back of the truck. It seems that on this day you can cut your own Christmas Tree from the Pike National Forest. And, being a beautiful, crisp, sunny day, many people were taking advantage of this holiday tradition. Cars were parked all along the side of the road, big groups trying to select and cut their own tree. It is such a cool idea; I wanted to stop and get a free tree, too, but, duh...what would I cut it with, the plastic knife from my picnic lunch? So...I just had to enjoy other people cutting their trees. Mostly men and their sons, or families traveling together in 3 separate cars just for this event. It was really fun, though, because the fire department was handing out cookies and hot chocolate to 'Men in Trees' and their families, the forestry service was checking out the trees and helping the lucky Treebeards (Ents) strap thosetrees to their cars. I wonder if those trees scratch the tops of those cars. I mean, some people came prepared with a tarp or a sheet of plastic, but some just tied them to the top. Those were mostly the small Hondas and such, toting enormous trees--the trees hung off of the front AND the back, they were so much bigger than the car!

I took the long way home, in order to enjoy the mountains and the day. There are places where the snow covers the land, and there are places that are totally without snow. But everywhere there is the majesty of the mountains. You have to be careful on tree cutting day, though; those little bitty Hondas with 10 foot trees on top of them can lose their tree at any moment, so you have to be prepared to dodge flying christmas trees. Luckily, driving round the mountain requires you to go pretty slow.

And so, another day in the mountains came and went. I had to get home early this day, to watch the Sooners wrap up another Big 12 title and set a new record--the first team to score more than 60 points in 5 consecutive games. I just hope they can score 60 against the Gators! Boomer Sooner!