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| Snow at my parents' house in Spanaway, WA |
So I'm visiting my folks in the suburbs of Tacoma, Washington, in a town called Spanaway.* I arrived on a Wednesday afternoon, cold to my bones. That night we had a nice dusting of snow. Only Spanaway was so blessed, because when I checked the news, it was business as usual in Seattle to our north. We settled in to some breakfast, and then headed out around 10 a.m. to Cox's Christmas tree farm in Eatonville, WA. Except when we got there, there was a big closed sign. But all was not lost. Another sign said they would be open at noon.
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| The gate at Cox Christmas Tree farm. |
So we continued on to center of the old mill town of Eatonville (pop. 2,800), named after Mr. von Eaton. My brother Adam teaches at the middle school here, so my parents are familiar with all the haunts here, and we proceeded to Mashel River Park, to take a brisk walk in the snow. My feet were cold, but it was a pleasant short walk. The river was once teeming with salmon, and you can still see the remains of the Indian fishing platforms along its banks. On our walk we encountered only one other brave soul. Temperatures in the 30s are not the norm in the Pacific Northwest, so most of the locals were sensibly inside with their coffee.
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| Roger (Dad) walking the Mashel River trial. |
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| Roger and Mary (Dad and Mom) trying to stay warm at the Mashel River trial |
After getting our blood circulating from our walk in the park, we had an early lunch at the local hotspot, Bruno's. My parents tell me that this place is usually jumping and sometimes there is actually a wait. But not today. We settled into a booth, had our early lunch and went back to Cox's Christmas Tree Farm. It was past noon, but it was still closed. Turns out, it was closed for the season. But all was not lost. Down the road a piece, someone had turned their front drive into a Christmas tree lot. We bought a pre-cut tree, loaded it into my Mom's mini-van and were on our way.
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| Cox's Christmas Tree Farm was closed, but a local entrepreneur down the road was open for business |
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| Mom and local entrepreneur. No cutting required. |
On the way back to my parent's house, the sun came out. A rare event this time of year. "Wow," my mom exclaimed, "that sun is hurting my eyes!" But the sun soon winked out, and we safely made it back home with our tree.
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| Setting up the tree. All's well that end's well. |
*As my sister Alyce explains, Spanaway got its name because it spans between Tacoma and Mount Rainier. Wikipedia tells me the name is actually an adaptation of the Indian term
Spanueh, which means "dug roots," or a place where there are edible roots. I think I prefer Alyce's definition.
