COMMENTS & CURIOSITIES:

Sometimes, less is more. It is in Crystal Cove anyway, which is very cool.

Last week, the Crystal Cove Alliance hosted its 11th annual tree lighting ceremony — a yuletide ritual that reaches back half a century and then some to the heyday of Crystal Cove.

Laura Davick, former Crystal Cove-ian and founder of the Crystal Cove Alliance, hit the refresh button on the annual tree-lighting 11, bringing one of her favorite childhood memories back to life — in color, with lights and ornaments — but not just any ornaments.

The Alliance wanted to replicate the spirit of Crystal Cove’s Christmas past so exactly that they scoured the Internet for vintage ornaments.

Last week, with everything hung on the branches with care once again, a compact but spirited group of onlookers braved a windy evening on the beach to cheer the lighting of the official certified 2007 Crystal Cove holiday tree, which is just like the towering Christmas giants at Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza, only less.

OK, a lot less, as in 18 feet tall. But that is the point. Crystal Cove has always a world of its own, without the trappings and pressures and problems that come with the real one. But it did get me to thinking, which is never good.

The highly impressive mega-trees at South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island weigh in, OK, stand in, at 100-ish feet while the Crystal Cove tree is a more person-friendly 18 feet.

But how small is small when it comes to Christmas trees? As with most things in life, it depends.

If you like your tannenbaum both small and sweet, for just $79.95, those Medford, Oregon cut-ups, Harry & David, will send you up a 24-inch faux tree with pinpoint lights, gingerbread ornaments and, most importantly, chocolate-covered graham crackers.

Here’s the most interesting part of their ad though: “Available to ship through Jan. 31.” How does that work exactly? If you send someone the gingerbread Christmas tree with the chocolate graham crackers and it shows up on Feb. 2, do they think you’re really late or really early?

In the alternative, you could try the pre-lit tabletop tree from GrandinRoad.com, which is also 79 bucks except you don’t get the chocolate-covered graham crackers. It’s 3 1/2 -feet tall and has “ dense, lifelike foliage and the signature gray and green overtones of Fraser & Balsam trees.”

I don’t know what Fraser & Balsam trees are, but the gray overtones sound a little sketchy.

If you like your trees small and real, ChristmasLightsEtc.com will rush you a 24-inch live fir “from the southern reaches of the Rocky Mountains.” It’s pre-decorated, pre-lit, and they are practically giving them away at $49.95. It says the trees were chosen for their “ tolerance of warm summer heat, winter hardiness and broad adaptability.”

That’s a big resume for a little tree.

I’d also like to know more about the “warm summer heat” though. Is warm summer heat hotter than just summer heat?

If you’re looking for a Pacific Rim Christmas, I found a holly bonsai tree that’s only 12 inches tall from JoeBonsai.com. Interesting name. It’s also $49.95, no lights or decorations, but at least you get holly. Just tell them Joe Bonsai sent you.

The Balsam Hill Christmas Tree Company didn’t score any small tree points — their smallest was 3 feet — but they win the Best Tree Poetry competition by four lengths: “Modeled after real New England pines and spruces, our Vermont Signature trees capture the ambience of a snowy Christmas night.” Cool. I’ll buy it.

That was about it on the small Christmas tree front, but I did find some other “smallest” items that might be of interest, assuming meaningless records interest you as much as Christmas, which is doubtful.

The world’s smallest horse is called Thumbelina, lives on a farm in Missouri, weighs 57 pounds and is all of 17 inches tall. Talk about having a hard time fitting in. That should make Rudolph feel better.

The world’s smallest book is “Teeny Ted from Turnip Town.” It measures a staggering .07 millimeters by .10 millimeters and was the product of an ultra high-tech experiment in nano-imaging by scientists at Canada’s Simon Fraser University. If ten hundredths of a millimeter is a little hard to grasp, the head of a pin is about 2 millimeters wide, and if you’d like to find out what happens to Teeny Ted, there is one not-so-teeny hitch. The book is so small that you need an electron microscope to read it, which costs a lot more than a Christmas tree.

I think that’s it — everything you could possibly need to know, which isn’t much, about big trees, small trees, Teeny Ted from Turnip Town and warm summer heat. Silver bells, silver bells, it’s Christmas time in the city, etc. I gotta go.

PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs Sundays. He may be reached at [email protected].