Driving on the way to Fresno last weekend, I was behind a truck carrying a gigantic load on its open bed. In the shadows of the tree-lined freeway at dusk, I discerned the load was a large beast that struggled against the ropes that held it down as the truck rambled on.
In the light of the setting sun, the load revealed itself as an enormous elephant shrew with a red nose that pathetically swayed its head up and down, left and right against the wind and the tethers that held it down.
Upon closer inspection, the load was actually a large fir tree tied to the open bed of a truck by a net-like tarp where only its very top, on which was attached a red flag, peeked through, and its massive shape was tossed about by the rushing wind. Truly the magnificent beast was held within the captive conifer.