This year, however, we took a new approach. In Boulder County, the efforts to preserve the forests include cutting down smaller trees in the woods that would make good fuel should there be a forest fire. They then sell the trees as Christmas trees, with the money going toward further preservation of the forests.
One place that sells these trees is the Aspen Lodge. Located just "across the street" from Long's Peak (everyone had a good laugh when I tried to tell them where it was by saying it was across the street from such a giant mountain), the Aspen Lodge is a beautiful place to stay, or just to visit for an afternoon. To get to the already-cut trees, they provide a horse-drawn sleigh ride (or in our case of limited snow, wagon ride) into the woods to the place where the trees are located. We rode in the wagon behind two horses, and enjoyed a beautiful, somewhat snowy ride. At the end, we found our perfect "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree.
After returning to the Lodge to enjoy hot chocolate and hot tea under their enormous tree, we headed home. It had been a family event that might be the start of a tradition and that was definitely the source of wonderful memories for years to come.
In our living room sits our happy tree, decorated with about 1/3 the usual lights (all it could hold, and too many according to some :-) ) and about 1/4 the usual ornaments. You can see right through it, and the star on top was almost too heavy for the top branches to hold. It is the shape of a ... can't think of a thing to describe it! And best of all, it makes us all smile just to look at it.
1 comment:
I loved your tree. Most people (ourselves included) always try for the perfect tree and it seems to take something out of the experience. It's sort of like the parents who yell at their kids trying to get them all to sit still and look at the camera so the shot comes out perfect. In the end the "memories" always come out looking a bit forced or the kids have tearstains on their faces.
Anyway, I loved your tree.
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