Yule Tree

View of the Sangre de Cristo
("Blood of Christ") mountains
from the East side.
In the shallow valley at the foot of the mountains
where Santa Fe is located and we live, we view this
southernmost subrange of the Rockies from the West.
This range contains "New Mexico's loftiest peaks."

After Thanksgiving and before the rain and snow that was predicted and came, we drove East past Pecos and into the National Forest to cut our Yule tree.

The dirt road was bumpy but our trusted Stella, our Prius, trudged along as we carefully negotiated the ruts. It was windy! Shasta jumped out of Stella but her foray was short-lived and she returned to nestle into the safety of her bed.

We tied our chosen Pinon pine to Stella's roof.

And began our slow drive home.

Before we cut our Pinon pine we considered where we might place it in our Casa Alegre home which is a considerable downsize from our West Sonoma County, California home. So upon returning home, Dwight secured on our front portal our chosen, lovely Pinon pine in the tree stand filled with plenty of water. Many lower branches were cut off and hydrated in a large bucket of water. 

Several days later we decorated our Yule tree with big snowflakes falling.

Our Yule decorations are modest compared to others in the neighborhood, but they suit us and our sense of simplicity.

Front door sway created
from some of the lower branches cut from our Yule tree.

In this midst of all the holiday hoopla, may we each rest, enjoy one another and