It was long overdue - throwing a beach bonfire gathering. With Pete in town and a need to dispose my Christmas tree, there never seemed to be a better time to throw a beach bonfire bash (ooh, alliterative!).

Pete and I went out on a mission to find firewood on Wednesday night (we knew the super-dried out pine tree would catch fire in a New York second) - with great success, we procured 25 quality logs of wood. I stored all that wood in my car; I had a lot of wood in my trunk the latter part of this week. (Don't you love that phrasing?)

While this solved the problem of the longevity of the beach bonfire (good wood is CRUCIAL for duration [did it again!]), it didn't solve how to transport my six foot Christmas tree to said party. Fortunately, Guerric convinced me I wouldn't be able to cram my six foot tree into my trunk (ok, I'll stop) so he brought over his saw so we could chop up the tree into two parts. The two parts I was able to fit into my car (a rather snug fit, if I say so myself).

So tonight, we finally met up at Mission Beach after dark (they have firepits for bonfires) to relax, enjoy the sights and smells of the ocean, and to burn the Christmas tree.

As master of ceremonies, I led the burning of the tree with the classic song, "O, Christmas Tree" (but of course, nobody really knew the lyrics). See how fast this sucker burns: (Watch in HD if possible!)

Credit goes to Guerric for the fantastic video work. That sucker did burn REAL hot - those people who are edging away aren't doing it to be safe - that thing was INTENSE.

In memory of what once was:

 (What's odd is that today, we had our delayed office Christmas party; a Christmas tree burning; and a random acapella outburst of "Jingle Bells")

I'm definitely getting a Christmas tree next year.