We set off this year to the vast wilderness to chop down our own Christmas tree. We did this last year and the kids absolutely loved it. The only draw back is the fact that while most people seeking a tree in the snowy mountain tops seem to have some sort of all terrain vehicle, we have a powerful, yet limited in all terrain capacity, mini van.
Which is why we found ourselves pointing upwards on an ice covered road trying to figure out where to turn around so that we might be moving back downwards. Our van had reached its capacity. Yet, by some twist of fate, as we carefully manuvered the van to turn around, a seemingly acceptable Christmas tree appeared off to the side of the road. Thus once the van was turned around, we were able to investigate our potential future tree.
Another vehicle traveling the road needed more space to pass on the narrow road so we had to move the van over to the shoulder more. These friendly people informed us that the road did not get any better up where they had been and that we were wise to turn around when we did. infact, they had come with two cars and ended up ditching the minivan due to its lack of capacity in the conditions.
The friendly people had also given us another tidbit of information. They had spotted a cougar about 2 miles up the road. This was rare indeed, and we all took it to mean that perhaps it was a sign about a rilvary football game that was under way at the moment with one team having a cougar as their mascot. (turns out spotting a cougar did not help the team win).
We were not overly concerned about the cougar, they usually do not like to be around people, but we thought keeping the kids close would still be a good idea. We got an insight into our kids personalities when we told them to stay by us since a cougar had been spotted up the road. One of our kids grabbed his sling shot so that he would be armed. One of our kids got back into the van and had to be coaxed out to help chop the tree. The other two kids kept "spotting" the cougar. One was facinated at that thought and the other one did not want to let go of my hand.
Chance was the one who needed to be coaxed out of the van. He had been on a school field trip the day before to a museum where he had seen a stuffed couagar up close. He apparently was not sure he wanted to get personal with such an animal. He eventually came out and just scoped the area every once in a while for signs of a cougar.
What impressed me though as Chance talked to me as we rode home, was just how much Chance had been able to hear in the museum. He had gone with all of the 2nd graders in the school, and he had apparently heard all kinds of details as they toured the museum. He told us about how he had been able to hold an owl, using a glove to protect his hand from the claws. He told us how the big toad they had showed the kids could be hurt from the oils on peoples hands. He had all kinds of information to share. That means that he was hearing what was being said even with 3 classes of squirmy 2nd graders surrounding him.
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