Rudolph finds a new ride to guide

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose, and if you saw Mike Tribe’s car, you might think that it glows.

While Rudolph was called in to lead Santa’s sleigh on a foggy night thanks to his red schnoz, Tribe’s Rudolph-like car decorations probably won’t help him navigate a foggy Vancouver street anytime soon. That’s because the decoration is made of yarn.

Tribe, 62, of Vancouver and his father, Glenn Tribe, were driving in his 1983 Mercedes Benz 300td earlier this week and a red Rudolph nose on his hood caught the eye of Columbian photographer Alisha Jucevic. He got the Rudolph decoration a few years ago from a friend.

“She crochets these things and puts them on trailer hitch balls without people knowing,” Mike Tribe said. “She calls it ‘yarn bombing.’ ”

Tribe said his friend is shy and didn’t want her name in the paper, but she has crocheted hood ornaments for a variety of holidays, including a turkey for Thanksgiving, a skeleton for Halloween and a Minion for anytime.

“I get thumbs up when I drive down the highway with them on,” he said. “People smile when they walk by it.”

Tribe said he likes to decorate for the holidays. He lives near the fairgrounds and said he has an antique windmill on his property that used to be his great-grandfather’s when he homesteaded in Central Washington around 1900. He decorates the windmill with lights every year for Christmas, along with his yard, home and a few barn quilts.