Mary hunting for this years Christmas Tree.

Mary hunting for this years Christmas Tree.

It's about 60 degrees outside. The ski is bright blue with puffy clouds. Humans and wild life alike are confused about the season. And today was the start of the Christmas season at the inn.

No, you read that correctly. Today was the start of the Christmas season at the inn.

Christmas is a beautiful time in Vermont. We always take great care to festively decorate the inn for the holidays. But in order to do that, a lot of detail work needs to be done in the background. I always joke with my friends about Christmas Tree Monday. It is what I call the Monday after Thanksgiving, because it is the day that I go out into the woods to cut down the inn's Christmas Tree for set up in the Great Room. A collection of friends, with trucks and chain saws, go with me to get their Christmas trees at the same time. A nice lunch on Christmas Tree Monday is usually included somewhere in the process as well. But before any of that can happen, Mary and I need to go out into the countryside and find a suitable tree. Today was the day!

Each year we have owned the inn, we have gone to an acquaintance's property, which used to be a Christmas Tree farm, and select this years tree. The "used to be a Christmas Tree farm" is an important distinction, because many of the trees are now towering giants approaching 30 feet. As luck would have it, this year, a new stand of trees has matured. We selected a beautiful 15 foot number that will fit just right into the inn.

In other news around Killington, the weather is definitely not conducive for skiing or riding. I did go to the mountain today to try to assess the damage to the area where snow blowing took place last week, but the mountain is somewhat surreal. If you remember the story of King King and Skull Island. Kong's island is covered with a thick, impenetrable veil of fog, ostensibly the result of Kong's breath. The mountain today looked just like that. The lower elevations were wet and green. The mid elevations, where snow making had occurred, were covered in a thick fog, masking any ability to see the slopes. Every now and then, as the wind moved the cloud, the top of Killington would peer above the clouds. Hopefully in a day or two I can see for myself what mother nature has let loose on Killington. In the mean time, we need a snow dance or 2 to get this season started!