Oh, Christmas Tree!

Andy and I had a cool opportunity today.

We were invited to his boss's house for a Christmas tree cutting festival. It's something of a tradition for some of the dealership: He invites a select group out to his spectacular property for a bonfire, cider, ice skating and cut-your-own Christmas trees. After the harvest, we all retired to the house for appetizers, drinks and camaraderie.

Andy and I have a fake tree - in part a nod to my inner tree-hugger and in part a fact of life when you lived in Chicago and didn't exactly have a surplus of cut-your-own trees - so we just harvested limbs leftover after trees were cut down. I plan to fill an outdoor planter with the greenery and possibly make a wreath from the leftovers for the boss's wife. I liked her a lot!

Anyway, unfortunately I didn't remember to take the camera out of the car, so I don't have any photos to post right now. I did, however, take some really cool pictures of the boss and his daughter whacking away at their tree on the boss's camera. Hopefully, he'll email some to us, including the shot he got of Andy and me in front of a gigantic Aspen scarred by mountain lions!

(A nod to Justin, Kristy, Sandy and all my photographic friends: I got the pictures from between the branches on the odd side as the boss was looking over his daughter's shoulder. She was wielding Andy's small hatchet. So, in short, I was in the way of where the tree fell, but got a really cool series of shots. Just as though I learned something from the talented photojournalists with whom I have worked.)

In short, it was an awesome day and we had a great time rubbing elbows with the elite of Mercedes-Benz of Colorado Springs. Cool to be in the inner circle and *hopefully* good for Andy's career.

If nothing else, I got to hum "Oh, Christmas Tree" and Joanie Mitchell's "River," while meeting a bunch of cool people.

What's your holiday tradition?