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.
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