Festive San José

I got turfed out of the church kitchen on Saturday; too many people trying to get in school or court-ordered community service hours before the end of the year. So, unable to make lunch for the homeless, I walked over to Plaza César Chávez because San José, “the [self-styled] Capital of the Silicon Valley”, puts on “Christmas in the Park”, & I had to see it.

Yes, in the Capital of the Silicon Valley, in the Capital State of Political Correctness, they have Christmas in the Park. Not holidays, not winter solstice, Christmas.

Viz.:

& the presentation is all Christmas, all the time. Not a whiff of a menorah, no Kwanzaa colors. Just Christmas trees & displays of Santa’s workshops. The trees are decorated by local groups: scout troops, businesses, civic associations.

It’s definitely California & Silicon Valley, though. Note the CDs on the tree on the left above, & the recycled water bottles on the tree below.

The displays look like they’ve been recycled, too, year after year. Here’s one with a “Countdown to Christmas”:

Only I was there on the 17th, & the Christmas-o-meter appears stuck on 8.

The whole thing is relentlessly secular—just trees, Santas & elves. Even the very loud music piped throughout made no mention of wise men or mangers.

But it’s definitely California. Here’s what greets visitors at every entrance: