Tumbleweed Christmas Tree....

What a beautiful unique southwestern tradition in Chandler, Arizona.  Chandler is the only city with a holiday tree made out of tumbleweeds, and this has been a tradition for over 50 years. Once the tumbling tumbleweeds are collected, somewhere between 1,500-2,000, they are used to adorn a 35-foot tall wire frame. Then, the tumbleweeds are sprayed with 25 gallons of white paint, 20 gallons of flame retardant and dusted with 65 pounds of glitter. The tree is later adorned with approximately 1,200 holiday lights that give it a spectacular look, day or night.  What a beautiful way to use a "natural resource".  Now for the western lovin' girl, this is just an ideal Christmas tree for a western town.  It conjures up all those wonderful times of living and traveling the west, seeing those tumbleweed just independently going where the wind carried them. 

Photo's by Joe Orman