holiday rez rite

December is Christmas tree cutting time in Arizona, and since I was willing to jump through the flaming hoops set up by the Forest Service back in October, we ended up getting drawn for a permit via the statewide lottery. As in years past, the cutting area for which we were drawn was on the outskirts of a little Reservation town called Cameron, which is a couple of hours' drive from our place, across the Navajo Rez and the Painted Desert.


We found a perfect spot in the forest to park, and even though we spotted a nice tree right away, it was, of course, necessary to draw out the hunt a bit.

A few elements of the adventure were a bit more Tim Burton-esque/Stephen Kingesque than I had anticipated, such as the recent remains of an elk carcass right near where we'd parked...

...and our son carving "Noel" in the scant snow with the blade of his axe. Awwww, isn't that just the cutest thing?

There's something about the Arizona sky, though. Clears the mind. Anyone remember that hallucinogenic song from the 90's called Little Fluffy Clouds about the skies in Arizona? Well, there were no clouds last weekend, which was amazing, considering the gale-force winds that had blown rain sideways just the day before. It was a glorious day:

After chopping down the defenseless little pine tree we'd spotted (I'll admit it: My vegan, tree-hugging roots pop up at this time of the year) and with RezCred firmly established on the truck's lower half, it was time to head home:

Of course, we had to stop for some shopping along the drive back.



First, there was the local Wal-Mart:

Then the Super Wal-Mart (where the vendors were out in force, and where I got a really pretty pair of silver and turquoise earrings for $15):

Finally, we drew near home. The Peaks, with their blanket of fresh snow, looked so pretty from the overpass of our exit:

The sky treated us to its own holiday lights display as the sun went down...

And, before long, we had what we'd set out for earlier in the day.

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