The quest for the perfect (small) Christmas Tree

The weathermen had painted a bleak dreary picture of the weekend so Diego and I were delighted when a brilliant sun appeared Saturday morning with no rain or fog in sight. We headed to McKinley Park for Stroller Strides and there was a GREAT turnout thanks to the beautiful weather (and probably a little post-Thanksgiving guilt). Class was awesome as always and Diego konked out about halfway through class like he always does. After class (and a shower), Mom and our friend Alex joined us for a late brunch at Tres Hermanas before we headed up to the mountains in search of a modest Christmas tree at our favorite tree farm in Pollock Pines. Diego was uber cheery as we headed through the foothills thanks to his morning cat nap and chatted the whole car ride. We first headed to Coloma for their small but oh-so-charming Christmas fair (Marco and I stumbled upon it last year while driving aimlessly so Diego could finish his nap). It was an exceptional experience to be there with Alex, who is from Australia. She was charmed by the old-timey costumes and the little houses and shops that look like the set of “Little House on the Prairie”.

We then headed up to Pollock Pines for some tree hunting. When we got to Placerville, a mini snow storm just light enough to be charming surrounded the town. We weren’t swayed, however because we could see blue skies both ahead and behind us. The snow had stopped by Apple Hill and we were all in great spirits as we snugly chugged up the hill in the Subaru. The mini blizzard returned just in time for our walk through the “forest” at Robert’s Christmas Tree Farm. My favorite thing about this place is that it’s not some neat little farm with straight rows of Christmas trees one after the other. It really looks just like the forest only you can tell that little trees are growing up where older trees have been cut down. The trees are a mish-mash of California evergreens and some are so lopsided that they wouldn’t even be called “Charlie Brown” Christmas trees. Still, they are the lucky ones, really, saved from the saw by their awkwardness. It was bitterly cold as the snow blew around us but we marched on, vowing that we’d go further this year than we’d ever gone, feeling like we always stopped short of the “perfect” tree because we chose too quickly. Of course, we’d loved all the previous trees, just couldn’t help thinking that there must be some elusive best tree that we’d missed. We forged on until we found it…     

Just as we were leaving, the scenic, you-couldn’t-fake-this-if-you-wanted-to, snow stopped as abruptly as it had begun. Our beautiful sunny day was waiting for us when we returned to Sacramento.

It was another day for the record books and I wouldn’t change anything, I mean ANYTHING about it and that is saying a lot because I can always come up with something that could have been improved upon. And for all of you who noticed that Diego’s socks don’t look like they match – I wouldn’t change that either -they’re this crazy pair of opposite socks that aren’t supposed to match. What will they think of next…

I have at least one other blog that I’m dying to get posted about the many members of our family that are so strongly connected to horses but, so far, I’ve been writing in my head but the words, frankly, have yet to make it to any page. I’ll keep working on it and hope to get it up soon. Stay tuned!

B