Christmas in Idaho

I had a log house in Mackay, Idaho. It was a beautiful and rugged spot with breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains, cattle, deer and cross wood fencing. Eagles would fly overhead and occasionally a bear or fox would run through the yard. My horse, Erin had a small corral and barn and a large pasture of sage brush and wild grasses.One morning a speckle fawn was standing next to her eating hay out of the manger. She kept coming back just about every morning and I named her Feather but, always kept my distance. We watched her grow up and over the years she would come back with a set of twins to visit and have breakfast with Erin out in the corral.

In the fall I would have to check her water trough and break the ice for her until I had to put the electric water heater in it as turned snowy and cold. We would bring in six cords of wood and chop it and stack it to keep warm for the winter burning it in the wood stove. It wood keep the house warm as the weather turned icy cold. The kids, wolf dogs and I would get a tag from the forestry service and take off in the Duramax truck. If we passed a local Rancher he would tip his hat from the driver’s side of his truck in a quiet “hello”. We would drive over roads that had turned icy and snow would pile up on the sides of the highway from the snowplows. We drove by the local cattle ranches and Mr. Borah covered in a white blanket of snow. We made it to the area we were allowed to cut our Christmas tree down outside of Challis, where the wild horses run, and hiked through knee deep snow passing large set fur traps until we found a tall lodge pole pine. With a saw we cut the tree down and dragged it through the snow. We loaded the dogs and tree in the back of the truck and tied it down and stopped at Antonio’s for lunch and a game of pool. When we made it home, the tree would just barely fit in the twenty foot cathedral ceiling of the house. We decorated it with white fairy lights and dried baby’s breath and handmade ornaments.