When I asked Pete, the family patriarch, if what we were about to do was legal, I was pretty sure no matter his answer we wouldn’t get in trouble.  Pete is something of a local celebrity, well known to everyone in town.  Fortunately, he said he did ask permission first.  We had arrived at someone else’s property to cut down a Christmas tree.  

Turns out California pines are a pest here.  Due to extremely favorable conditions they grow twice as fast as back home.  Controlling their spread uses up municipal resources, and for the most part it’s been a failure.  Now, one of these invasive trees sits behind me in the living room adorned with the usual holiday trimmings.  A small victory in the overall war, I suppose.  The tree, fully alive this morning, has a lot of character.  I did the lighting, obviously.  Everyone insists it’s the best lit tree they’ve ever had.  Sometimes it bothers me the readiest accessible depiction of my career involves dead foliage and 12 volt bulbs.    

After lunch we hiked along Lake Wanaka to Albert Town.  A local pub awaited us at the end, which I think should be a feature of all hikes, everywhere.  Lake Wanaka drains into this very deep, very blue, very cold, and very fast moving river.  Along the way, a sign read, “Don’t stop for the next 30 meters.”  Apparently landslides are common, and in this area of the trail particularly common.  

It struck me danger here always lurks right beneath the beauty.  Admire this stunning river, but fall in and you’ll be dead within minutes.  Admire this beautiful trail, though, be warned land here moves and will effortlessly take you with it.  Those peaks are beautiful, until you’e caught up there in (what seems like) quickly evolving weather and within minutes are fogged in, cold, wet, and hours from help.  The environment promotes a ruggedness and self reliance that has forged a national identity.