The person who decorates the large Christmas tree on Cannery Row is a Mexican man named Melecio and his compañero. Today I saw Melecio putting on the last of the lights. He told me that yesterday, his wife asked him to put the lights up for their home and he told her no because he was tired of decorating. He then started laughing and told me that he has decorated the Cannery Row tree for years.

He invited me to the Christmas tree lighting event this Friday. I asked him if he was bringing his family and he said the equivalent of “hell no… I’m tired of looking at this tree” in Spanish accompanied by hand gestures and whistling. lol He is actually in the back of the tree putting the lights on in this picture. He didn’t want to be photographed. Now, every time I pass by the tree, I’ll think of him and how much we both laughed while he was telling me his story.

This encounter took place a few weeks ago. This is what the tree looks like at night.

Angelica