Christmas Tree O' Christmas Tree

Every village is different, we are now living in San Jacinto and it is quieter than San Clemente, the neighbor to the North. The overall vibe of the town is different, one person told us early on, San Jacinto was like 50's Florida coast, and San Clemente was more like 60's California, we can feel the difference. We can also SEE the difference, at the Christmas holiday, San Clemente has a big Nativity scene and a huge Christmas tree, San Jacinto just did a little sprucing up with new paint...here are some pictures of San Clemente.

Apparently, this Nativity scene has been getting bigger and grander over the past couple years, the stream has been added, and even a small fish pond pump, so the water circulates. It's the talk of the town...UNTIL the Christmas tree starts getting made.

This is how it starts, a man named Pinoche collects bottles thru the year, over 2000 water bottles this year went into making this tree. Then he makes a form from bamboo, wood and tubing...

And strings the bottles on, then they added lights up thru the center, and this year he hung dozens of CDs, so that they caught and reflected the light as the ocean breeze moved thru the tree.

Thanks John MacDonald for the great pictures and blow by blow of how it's made. They say every year the tree is a little different, so stay tuned...the adventure continues, one plastic water bottle Christmas tree at a time, (maybe next year we'll make our own...stay tuned!)