SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO

As a little girl, maybe around six to eight, I watched the cartoon that follows this paragraph.  I can't remember if I saw it at the movies first or not. Surely not, the date in the title says 1942. I do remember sitting at home one day and seeing it on television.  Going to the place in this cartoon intrigued me.  This week I finally arrived at San Juan Capistrano at the ripe old age of 56.




What impressed me was the sweetness of the cartoon.  How the Padre nursed the bird back to life and the bird then brought his friends to Capistrano.  The real story is much more black and white.  In the 30's one of the Padres watched a man knock down swallow nests off his house.  When he questioned the the man he answered, "The birds are pests."  To which the Padre answered, "They are always welcome at the mission."

Whether or not this was the impetus for the cartoon I do not know.  When I questioned the staff, none could remember seeing the cartoon.

The mission was every bit as sweet as I thought it would be, here are the pics:

The above pics are of the original mission site and the great Church.  It was the largest mission structure in the history of the missions.  In the 1800's it collapses during an earthquake killing all 40 parishoners inside attending mass.  It was an amazing structure.

The gardens were amazing.  Mexican Sage and roses took center stage.  This is a very interesting fellow.

Here are four nests the swallows make each year.  Due to overgrowth, San Juan Capistrano is in Orange County, the swallows are losing ground.   I guess the trade off is we have The Housewives of Orange County.  I think I prefer the birds.