Tree Farm

Before the really heavy rain hit yesterday, we headed out to chop down a Christmas tree. Chop being a little heavy-handed, as it seemed like that saw slid right through the trunk like butter. A little easier going getting a small tree from a farm in Redmond than my childhood adventure tromping through waist-deep snow and felling what was the smallest tree on the land but the biggest one we'd ever tried to fit in our house.

The kids had fun (or at least I did) with the obligatory stick-your-face-in-the-hole photo shoot:

Breaking character:
The "chopping:"

Some hands-on help:
Carrying our treasure back to the car:

Happy with our selection:
Time to bake some cookies and dust off the Bing Crosby cd so we can decorate the tree!

Merry-Go-Round

Today we had the good fortune to have sun all day and a warm afternoon outdoors to enjoy. Adelaide rode her bike with the masses at Greenlake while I walked alongside trying to prevent collisions. At the playground, also jammed packed, I noticed that despite the fact that there were children on every inch of the equipment and parents forming an almost unbroken ring on the perimeter, the mood was light and people were navigating through without much fuss. A little reprieve from the cold, wet, and dark really does a lot for the spirit here in the Northwest.

The most noticeable success story in the sharing and working together today happened at the merry-go-round. There were kids of all ages on there, mostly 4 and older, but a few smaller ones too, and they must have been at capacity if not pushing the limit a bit. The speed at which it was whirling around made it challenging for me to watch (I don't have to ride to get dizzy) but I couldn't take my eyes off of these kids. They negotiated an amazing number of factors with very little discussion, all while whirling around and sometimes leaning their heads back with pure joy. When things slowed, a few kids would hop off and run until it was fast again. When a smaller kid said "stop!" they had it slowed to a crawl almost instantly. When a new kid appeared on the scene wanting to climb on, they slowed it down enough for that child to run an hop on. No arguments, no negotiations, no tears or yelling or collisions. I don't know how they did it, but I do know I wanted to scoop those kids up and give them a hug for being so amazing.

I couldn't help but wonder what the freeway might look like if these kids were driving instead of their parents. I suppose there might be some speeding going on, but I bet you anything there wouldn't be any tailgating. Merging, changing lanes and the on- and off-ramps would be a breeze, and thank-you waves would be the norm.