Another Thanksgiving meal has been prepared and devoured. The conversation turns to what the Hamming family should do next. Ideas are tossed around- play a game, watch a movie- but no one really seems taken with any of these suggestions. Then, the solution is presented; let’s take a drive. The drive takes on a mission. We shall return to a picnic area where Nick and Katelyn once carved their initials into a tree trunk. The mission: to find the tree and figure out if the initials have stayed in the same spot, or if they have been raised towards the sky as the tree has grown.
We drive, and we drive, and we drive. The road takes us past fallow fields and wooded hilltops. Finally as we climb higher into the mountains someone spots the sign. We take the gravel-covered road. As mom drives deeper into the forest, it becomes clear that the picnic area is not down this lane. Mom turns the car around as we listen to the sound of the rocks bouncing back and hitting the bottom of the car as mom heads back to the highway.
The search is on as everyone in the car looks left and right trying to be the first to spot the actual picnic area. "What if we drove all this way and the picnic area is closed for the winter?" With that comment lingering in the back of everyone's mind, someone sees the sign for the picnic area. Mom hits the breaks. We turn off the road. "Picnic Area Closed to the Public." Of course. But no sign is going to stop the Hamming family.
Dad casually says we’ll just park by the sign and walk past it into the park. Something about the illegality of the action seems to excite everyone. Covered in orange, brown, and red we walk the path searching for the famous initialed tree. But we are surrounded by a forest of initialed trees. But not to worry, Dad seems to have a built in GPS that leads us right to the spot after only a few minutes of searching.
For the moment of truth- Nick and Katelyn approach the tree. It’s been ten years since Dad lent them his pocketknife, and they carefully carved their initials and the date into the tree. So, are the initials now higher up on the tree and out of the reach of both Katelyn and Nick? No- of course not, trees grow out faster than they grow up, duh. That’s according to Katelyn at least.
The End!
Comments