The search for the perfect tree.

Just so you know dear friends, you will most likely be getting 3 different versions of the mighty Christmas tree search. My 2 girls will probably expound on the day on each of their blogs. So here goes my description of the day.

The day started with a shrill ringing of the phone. I opened my bleary eyes and looked at the clock. What it was only 6:16. On Saturday morning no less. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal if we had gotten to bed at a decent hour, but it was after 12 am when we returned home from Cowboy Church. It didn't go that long. We were just visiting with some dear friends. Any way back to the ringing of the phone. Who should be on the other end but dear Jennifer. Her first words, " Are you asleep?" No not now. She wanted to know if we were still going to get a tree. I told her the wind was howling, and it had rained off and on all night. She said it was just breezy over at her house. I am not sure what her definition of "breezy" is. And we don't live all that far apart. As the crow flies about 25 miles. I also said that I had heard on the weather that it was supposed to be bad up in the higher elevations. Sooooo. Well I could tell that this news was not sitting very well with DD. She had her mind made up, and she is hard to bend when she is that way. DH said to ask John what he thought. She did and in the back ground I heard these words, shouted with much enthusiasm. " LETS DO IT". Yes of course that is what my adrenalin junky bronc riding son-law would say. This is man whose idea of a good time is riding 1000 pounds of horseflesh while it is trying its best to throw him off and seriously maim or kill him.


Well it seemed to be decided. Quick breakfast, drive to Artesia, meet up at Wallie world and off we went.


The weather didn't seem to bad, just very windy. We arrived at Cloudcroft 2 hours later. Went into the little store, bought donuts, a tree permit. And off we went.


We finally found a likely spot to tree hunt. Of course DS #1 found the road that went to the peak of the mountain. I think it was a plan all along. He gives me grief all the time about having a Jeep with 4-Drive and never using it. I have to hear this very often, " Why do you have a Jeep, if you aren't going to off-road?" What he doesn't understand is I have done my share of off roading in my life, and much of it was just trying to get done our muddy road to the school bus when I was a kid. And Dh and I have lived on our share of long muddy roads, and the thrill of it has faded somewhat. And I don't want a bumper sticker that says," Mud bogging Mama," on my pretty little Jeep. With all that said.......I would love to drive the Alaskan Highway some day. Now that would be as DS say's, "sweet".


Ok , I got off track. With DS at the wheel, off we went, climbing to the top. Through the mud puddles, over the rocks, up the steep hill, we went. Finally we made the crest. Getting out we were met by a blast of icy air that took your breath away. We bundled up, and off we went chainsaw in hand. The mighty tree search had commenced.


We had been searching for just a bit, when DS #1 hollered, " I found it". And indeed he had. It was just the right size. A blue spruce. DH swiftly made short work of cutting it down. Dear son-in-law looking on with.....admiration? What is it about men and saws? Give a man a saw and he becomes......Paul Bunyan, the mightiest of all the lumberjacks. After cutting our tree DH hands off the coveted saw to John. John's eyes gleam, he grins, it is a hallmark moment. He takes the saw, and off he goes. Its a quest now, a challenge, a race he must run. With a determined step off he goes, in search of......."The Tree". Jen follows, they are on a mission.


At this point our part in the tree search is done. And also at this point DH says that he needs to go water a tree. If by some chance you don't get what he means......I can't help it, figure it out.


I am thinking to myself. We shouldn't let him get out of sight. It is not good when you let him get out of sight. Just as I was about to tell him we would just wait, I looked around, it was creepy. He has just vanished into the forest. It was like he had never been there at all.


Taylor, Sara and Nathan are going up the trail, taking the tree to the Jeep. I tell them I am going to look for daddy, I mean how far could he have gotten? Off I go. I look, I call, I look, I call. For several minutes. Finally I look up and here come Sara and Nathan. Where is your brother? They don't know he disappeared as well. OH MY! WE have 2 lost men in the forest. Not to mention that I hadn't seen John and Jen, in sometime. What if...........OK I have to admit that at time I may get a little stirred up. I have a small tendency to panic. And I do have a very vivid imagination. Right at that moment I was imaging have to call 911, nope can't no cell service. Going back to the Jeep, going for help! Nope Taylor has the keys......and where is the Jeep anyway? What to do? Well I..."whooped". I received my talent for "whooping" from my grandmother. She was a fine whooper. We were brought many a time for a rattlesnake killing just by her whooping ability. I really can't describe what " whooping" is, just say it is a loud whooping sound that you make with your mouth, kinda like WHOOOOOOOOOOO. So I whooped to the best of my whooping ability. Hark! Was that a whoop back? Are was the wind, and delirium of altitude sickness getting to me! Yet again I whooped. I listened....yes It was a whoop coming from.....? Another whoop, and answering whoop, this time closer. The breaking of limbs, the crash of rocks, another whoop! Yes it was DH coming to our rescue. Fording stream and vale, finding his woman and his offspring! We were saved! But, you might be saying, " I though you went to find him"? Well yes....but you see, um, it was very cloudy, and the um, sun, well it was hard to see, and you know all trees look alike...Well anyway we were reunited, at the base of the hill, where my Jeep, and Taylor, and shortly Jen and John all met up. The day was saved.


The men tied the trees on top of the Jeep. Loaded the saw. Taylor took the wheel and we made our descent.


We stopped for coffee at the Jamaica Bean in Cloudcroft. Not a very manly place, but hey, we had been mountain women for them. I figured they could be coffee shop men , just once for us. So with white chocolate mocha's under out belts, down the mountain we all went. Each to our respective homes, to decorate our respective trees. Filled with caffeine and warm fuzzy memories of the," 2007 Blackwell and Jones Great Christmas Tree Quest."

Here are a few pictures of the day. Hope you enjoy!















Off we go!!


Cowboy lumberjack























Taylor and his tree