Tree Tipping on a Hike

For Christmas last year, we spent a few weeks with family in North Carolina.  Part of that time was deep the heart of Suburbia.

Within the confines of shopping malls, congested streets, and endless cars, there is a hidden gem; a beautiful park with streams and walking trails. 

We went for a hike on a cold, muddy, and gorgeous day.

 Cousins posed on a rock acting silly....

 Paige planked because I told her it was a thing, you know, to plank on things.  She was confused.

Jerry even came along for the hike.  He's too many for a jacket, by the way, while the rest of us froze to pieces. 

He's not a pleasure hiker.  Not a pleasure walker of any kind.  So he finds other things to do.  Manly things to do. 

"Hey, Phoebe.  I think that tree over there needs knocking down."

 So he went in there, gave it a push, 

 

 and a shove, 

 

 and very manly pushed over that dead tree. 

 Thus, a trend was set.  

Cousins C and C destroyed tree after tree.

Josh wanted part of the action, of course, so he chose a large tree to prove his budding manliness.

"Dad.  I need help."

(Josh's mantra is "I need help".)

 The big guns were called in and soon that tree, too, was fodder for the decomposers.

 After every tree in creation was knocked over, we continued our hike slowly, fording streams, and braving rapids barely moving.

 And amid the far-off sounds of the encircling Suburbia, our family grew closer on a cold, muddy, beautiful day.