Sunday, November 27

Quote of the Day:  “Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.”   Henry Clay

We have a new tradition in our family- this is our second year- two days after Thanksgiving, we drive up to Mountain Green to Papa’s Pines and cut down a Christmas Tree.  Last year, we all gathered in our car, full of warm coats, gloves and a canister of hot-chocolate and braved the ice and the cold to find a tree.  Since it was our first year, we really didn’t know what to expect.  Joe, who is notorious for bringing more equipment then we usually need, put in the chainsaw.  When we arrived, we realized immediately that this would be a more benign adventure, no chainsaw needed, they even provided saws.  It’s beautifully peaceful and silent and a chainsaw would not be welcomed.  I think in our minds, we thought we were going to cut down a massive tree with a huge trunk.  There is certainly this unequal perception of a tree in the outdoors vs. how they look in a house with 8 foot ceilings.  But this year, the weather was warm, we needed gloves, maybe, and there was no ice on the ground.  Kate loved walking around and didn’t want anyone to pick her up.  In the end, we headed down with two beautiful trees tied atop our car.  We apologized to nature for cutting the trees down and told ourselves that others would be planted to replace them.  I must admit that I feel perplexed about this tradition.  I love having a fresh tree in the house but I feel really guilty for plucking a tree from the forest.  It sure beats buying a tree from a corner stand, though.

I love being with family.  We missed Mike and Elle this Thanksgiving- I know we have to share them.  I love how each member of my family has a different take on life and no one is afraid to voice their opinion.  I’m glad that’s always been encouraged in our house.  Also, all my boys have a really funny sense of humor- they are all much quicker off the cuff than either Joe or I and they are always entertaining with their comments and stories.  We always joked that Taylor pushed a girl out of line in Heaven so he could be with these brothers.  Taylor was always happiest when he had his brothers nearby.  He had a lot of good friends, but in truth, he simply enjoyed his brothers more than anyone else.  I picture him looking up at them and laughing.  All the other boys loved taking friends on vacations with us.  Not Taylor, friends got in the way of being with his brothers.  Once in 5th grade, a girl in his class made up a story about Alex- I have never seen Taylor so angry.  She apologized but Taylor never wanted to have anything to do with her again- she had so violated his trust.

We have a family song from Big River, the musical, about Huckleberry Finn’s adventures and it goes like this:  

If the bunch of us all stick together
And we all go down as one
We could be highway robbers
We could be killers just out to have fun

And if any of you can’t keep a secret
We’ll cut your throat if you tell
Then lay down ‘neath six feet of ground
‘Cause we were born to raise hell

Chorus:
All together now were the boys
All together forever and always
All together now we are the boys
We’re together forever and always

If the bunch of us all, now listen,
‘Cause here’s the part I like the best

If we all got a hold of some horses
We could ride like the boys out West
We could hoot shoot, and we could holler
We could ride like the devil wind
Then go back to the cove and sleep all day
And do it the next night again

All together now were the boys
All together forever and always
All together now we are the boys
We’re together forever and always

If the bunch of us all stick together
And we all go down as one
We could be highway robbers
We could be killers just out to have fun

And if the bunch of us all form a circle
And surround all the ladies of the town
I said hey, hey hey we’ll take them to the cove
And dance them till they all fall down
(Repeat Chorus Twice)

Christmas Tree Searching at Mountain Green

Our Kate