You're looking at a Holly Oak, tenaciously clinging to the side of Coldwater Canyon. The tree is neither a Holly nor an Oak, and for a more proper name, we borrow the name given it by the Ohlone Tribe: Toyon.

It's said that early settlers in the area, for want of a fir or spruce tree, cut down the Toyons as Christmas Trees. Horrors! The tree is now a protected species. This particular one looks to be at least 50 years old. The berries start off green, turn orange by around Halloween, and bright red by Thanksgiving-Christmas.

A pleasing but yet unfounded rumor has it that these settlers decided to name their new city after the toyon: Hollywood.

In today's scientific experiment, we seek to find whether Toyotas and Toyons get along. You cannot hear the low growling, but apparently they prefer to keep their distance from one another.

Whether you wander around in the rain risking life and limb to take photos in the middle of slick Coldwater Canyon Road, or are doing some other strange stunt -- we wish everyone a Merry Christmas or Happy Chanukkah as you prefer!