'Whatcha doin'?' the little voice asked as I was sharpening the chain on my chainsaw.
'Hey sweetie, just getting ready to get a Christmas Tree.' I replied. 'Do you have one up already?'
She shook her head, 'Momma said that it's 'pensive so maybe next year.' She replied with a sigh.
Sammi with an 'I' was my four-year old neighbor. And it was Sammi, not Samantha, although that's what her mom yelled out when Sammi was in trouble. Young enough to find happiness and fun with the everyday trappings of life, but old enough to know that difficult times meant doing without. Something that her mom and she had to deal with ever since her mom got laid off because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
They had moved next door about two years ago. Sammi must have been around two years old and still a toddler. Never saw a father figure and I later learned that her mom and dad were divorced.
I tried to help Renee, her mom, but she was a proud woman and wasn't inclined to accept anyone's help. I had offered to help with the lawn care but even that was turned down. And now that there was two or three inches of the white stuff on the ground, the yard didn't need much looking after. So I just shoveled the snow off her driveway whenever I did mine.
'Sammi!' her mom yelled out from their house, 'where are you?'
'Mommy, I'm next door talking with Petey.' She yelled back in reply.
Renee looked out their front window and waved. Sammi and I waved back.
'Hey, I got an idea. Why don't you ask your mom if both of you can come with me to get a Christmas Tree for your house?' I asked.
Her face lit up with a huge smile moments before she was running back to her house yelling at the top of her lungs, 'Mommy! Mommy! Petey asked if we could go with him to get a Christmas Tree!'
I laughed as I returned to the task of sharpening the chain.
A few minutes later I heard the crunch of their footsteps on the icy surface of the snow on her lawn as Renee walked over holding Sammi's hand. Sammi was going a mile a minute asking for her mom's permission to go with me to get a tree.
'Hey Petey,' Renee greeted me as she walked up. 'Sammi said that you invited us to go with you to get a Christmas Tree?'
'Yep, there are several hundred acres of Douglas, Spruce and Scotch pines around town. If you're interested, I would be happy to take you and Sammi to get a tree for Christmas. I was planning to get one for myself as well.'
She nodded her head, 'If it's not too much trouble. Thanks Petey. Let me get miss fireball bundled up and we'll be right back.'
I smiled back, 'see you in a few, then.'
I finished up the sharpening and made sure that the oil reservoir on the chain saw was full. Then gas can, chain saw, ropes, and a hatchet went into the tool box on the back of my truck.
I went back into my house to put the hot water kettle on and fixed up two thermoses of hot chocolate. That and a bag of chocolate chip cookies that my niece had made, went into my backpack. Then I grabbed two heavy blankets from the hallway closet along with my squall jacket, beanie cap and gloves and started to load up the truck.
Renee and Sammi came over as I finished loading up and Renee had a backpack as well.
'Thanks Petey,' Renee said as I helped them into my King Cab.
'No problem, I love having the company. Hey, do we need a car seat for Sammi?' I asked.
'Yeah we should. If you can pull up in my driveway we can take the one in my car.'
We transferred the car seat over to my truck and buckled Sammi in.
'All set?' I asked.
'Yay!' Sammi yelled out as Renee smiled.
We had driven to the outskirts of town when Renee asked, 'Do you know where we can find a tree?'
'Yep, been doing this for years. Most of us who grew up around here have been getting our trees from the hillsides around town for as long as we can remember.'
'You grew up around here?' Renee asked.
'Yep. Born and raised, then went off to school on the east coast. Worked in Boston for a number of years before I came back.'
'What do you do?' she asked.
'I write apps. Started off with HP while I was in school. Did a summer with HP as an intern and that got me hooked. It's something that I have fun doing.'
'Do you still do that?'
'Yeah. Although I don't work for HP anymore. I have contracts with several software companies to enhance existing apps as well as work on new apps for them.'
'That must be interesting.'
'Most of the time it is. I work with a bunch of guys and we collaborate on things as well as work independently. What do you do?' I asked.
'Well, I used to be the controller for Alpine Industries, but they had to downsize because of the pandemic and I hear that they might be closing the shop.'
'Controller, so you must be an accountant?'
'Well, not a licensed CPA, but I do have my accounting degree and have six years of experience working as one.'
'I guess no one's in the hiring mode right now?' I asked.
She grimaced, 'Yeah, unfortunately. I've tried and I've got my resume out with different people, but so far it's been pretty dismal.'
'Mommy, what's dismal mean?' Sammi asked.
Renee turned to Sammi and replied, 'it means not very good.'
'Oh.' I could hear the gears engaging behind that little one's ears. She knew that things hadn't been good.
'Mr. Petey?' Sammi asked, 'Do you have family?'
'I sure do,' I replied. 'I have a mom and dad, and a sister and her husband and a niece a little older than you.'
'Mommy and I have a grandpa and grandma but they live far away.'
'Do you talk with them sometimes?' I asked.
'Yeah. Mommy and I talk to them on the phone sometimes.'
'That's good. It must be nice to hear their voice.'
'Yeah, but I wish they could come and visit us.'
'I'm sure they would if they could. Hey, how tall a tree do you want to get?' I asked.
'Let's get the tallest tree we can find!' Sammi yelled out.
Renee smiled, 'It has to fit in our house, honey. So it can't be too tall.'
By that time I had left the main highway and had taken a side road that led up into the mountains to an area that I have harvested trees from ever since I was a teenager. I slipped the truck into four-wheel drive as we got to the end of the street and crept up the road that had rapidly become little more than a gravel and rock trail.
We drove in for another half mile or so before the forest opened up and I parked in a clearing.
The area had been logged many years ago and the regrowth was now anywhere between six to twenty feet tall.
'Wow!' Sammi yelled out. 'Mommy look at all the Christmas Trees!' as we climbed down from the truck.
She got out and ran around looking and touching as many trees as she could. Renee wasn't too far behind as she tried to keep up with Sammi.