Two weeks ago Jesse men­tioned an annu­al com­mu­ni­ty mass burn­ing of Christ­mas trees in Solvang. Well I just perked right up at the image that brought to my mind and men­tioned it to sev­er­al oth­ers. Car­ol and Vir­ginia were imme­di­ate­ly on board with Lib­by soon after.

Three of us drove over Hwy. 154 dur­ing a beau­ti­ful pink cloud­ed sun­set and met Lib­by at the new “The Cow­boy Way” bar-b-que restau­rant in Solvang for din­ner and a fun chat. Then it was on to the big event, held in the huge open field that adjoins Hwy. 246 and the San­ta Ynez Mis­sion. Hun­dreds of oth­er folks and fam­i­lies had arrived to watch.

After a fire depart­ment demon­stra­tion show­ing us all how quick­ly a dry tree ignites as com­pared to a tree that has been watered the big pile of trees was set aflame. The effect was def­i­nite­ly worth the dri­ve and dur­ing the entire show there was a con­tin­u­ous cycle of pop songs hav­ing lyrics con­tain­ing fire, burn, light, etc. blar­ing out into the night.

To see and hear some of our fire­side fun click on the mon­tage above.