Dear Editor:
The usual attitude during the Christmas season is one of joy and goodwill, but this year the season started off much differently. Since things have been tight financially, my wife and I decided to save some money by getting a tree permit from the Forest Service and cutting our own tree. This was not easy as I am in my 70s, we do not have a four-wheel-drive vehicle, the roads were either muddy or slick with snow and ice, and appropriate trees were quite a ways off the road. We were able to find a good-looking pinyon that we were able to drag through the mud, brush and snow. After getting it home, I cleaned off the mud using a garden hose, cut off the lower limbs, put it in the tree stand that we have used for more than 20 years, and then stood it up in our back yard to dry.
Then somebody came by and stole it, stand and all! This was on Wednesday, between 6 and 7 p.m. Now I wonder if they will come back and steal the lights off of our front porch.
This sounds like a plot for a good story, but I think Dr. Seuss already wrote something like it. I hope the family that has the tree they stole from us really couldnt afford the $8 for a tree permit. Or maybe the person who stole it lied to them about how he got this nice 8-foot pinyon complete with stand.
David Faulkner
Cortez
