Wish in one hand . . .

I link to an AP story because this case of rampant stupidity is just irresistible.

You may have heard of the couple who headed up to the mountains for this year's Christmas tree. Nothing too unusual about that. After all, many of us who live in the north like to cut our own tree. In this case, however, the couple seemed bent on setting a new record for stupidity.

First, last year when they did this, they got lost in the woods. If that happened to you, maybe your strategy this year would include "Don't get lost". Instead, they packed blankets and bottled water for the event that they would get lost, which they apparently viewed as an inevitable part of the process.

The couple also ventured into the Siskiyou Mountains near the California border last year, but got lost. They were better prepared this time, bringing two maps, a cell phone equipped with GPS, three blankets and 24 bottles of water. They purposely drove their all-wheel-drive, but didn't take chains or food.

But that's not the best part. Here's a view to their strategy once they did get stuck in the snow.

Jennifer Lee said she spent much of Tuesday and Wednesday praying while her husband worked to free the car. She thought of her kids, ages 8 to 18, and what kind of Christmas it would be for them without their parents.

Early Thursday morning, a newly determined Keith Lee changed strategies, rocking the car forward instead of backward, putting rocks underneath the tires, and filling in the ruts from behind.

"Suddenly the car just shot forward," he said. "Then we backed down the hill. I had my wife spot to make sure we went in some real deep ruts that looked like some truck had turned around a couple days earlier."

Do you think they would have gotten out faster if she'd prayed harder? Or maybe god was distracted helping his favorite teams beat the spread on the Thanksgiving football classics.

Next year's strategy: more bottled water, food, and extra people to pray when they get stuck.