Luminarias or Farolitos

[Danny]

Do you have these on your street tonight. Luminarias

Tradition here. Entire streets are lit up by these paper bag candle lanterns. People drive around with lights off or walk and take it in. I like to watch when one bursts into flames. Candles we use burn until morning.

Had trouble putting tonights pictures here but they are at my Waking Up website

We're on our way to 2 feet of snow so a very beautiful scene right now...

 

[bssc]

My parents neighborhood in Virginia does this. Very nice. Here in Phoenix there are so many Christmas lights up, they would blind the poor candles.

 

[Goonie]

There's one neighborhood in town here that has them every year. There are a few people scattered around town that put them out also. However, I imagine that they're not out this year due to all of the rain we've had (and are having) in the last 36 hours..... 2.5" and counting! Thank God that it was only rain, and NOT snow!!! BTW, the 3" of snow we got the other day is ALL gone!!!

 

[Orchidflower]

Not here, but I saw that alot on different walkways in Houston. Looks very beautiful at night seeing the lights up a walkway. I love that tradition myself, but then I love most things Mexican.

 

[mickeyd]

This tradition is quite common in south Texas as many folks of Mexican decent reside here and have continued this quaint part of their Christmas celebration.

 

[REWahoo]

Many years ago the neighborhood where my parents lived did a redneck version of this, lighting the entire street with strings of lights set along foot-high stakes along the curb. My 50-something brother was visiting our elderly parents one evening and noticed one of their string of lights was out. He was kneeling on the curb attempting to find the source of the problem when an elderly man, looking at the lights and driving without his headlights, struck my brother with his car.

My brother was thrown 20 feet into my parents yard and knocked unconscious. My mom, watching from not far away, ran to help him, tripped and broke her arm. Both my brother and my mom were carried away by ambulance. Mom recovered fully but the accident did permanent damage to the sciatic nerve in my brother's right leg and he lived in pain the rest of his life.

Merry Christmas.

 

[Danny]

Many years ago the neighborhood where my parents lived did a redneck version of this, lighting the entire street with strings of lights set along foot-high stakes along the curb. My 50-something brother was visiting our elderly parents one evening and noticed one of their string of lights was out. He was kneeling on the curb attempting to find the source of the problem when an elderly man, looking at the lights and driving without his headlights, struck my brother with his car.

My brother was thrown 20 feet into my parents yard and knocked unconscious. My mom, watching from not far away, ran to help him, tripped and broke her arm. Both my brother and my mom were carried away by ambulance. Mom recovered fully but the accident did permanent damage to the sciatic nerve in my brother's right leg and he lived in pain the rest of his life.

Merry Christmas.

oh god...what a fubar that was....now I will always think of your bro and ma when out there at the curb placing those luminarias ....i was out in the middle of our street taking photos of the lights in the snowstorm with cars silently showing up with no lights, edging by, had fears of being rolled like christmas cookie dough.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

My MIL would set out luminarias along their front walk up to the house at their farm in western Oregon for Christmas Eve when we were able to come over (and it wasn't raining!). Small brown paper bags with a little sand in the bottom and a candle. Eventually, they got a set of electric luminaria with plastic imitation bags. More practical, but not quite the same, of course.

 

[FUEGO]

Our neighborhood puts them out for everyone. Here's one photo of them I stole from a neighbor's flickr site. I'll get a couple more up once I dl from my camera. 40+ yr tradition here.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Haven't thought about luminaries for years. We lived in Upper St. Clair, PA (outside Pittsburgh) from 1976-1980 and everyone was doing the luminaries. We got into it also. After we moved to Ohio, we never saw them again until this thread was posted. Never before and never after. Must be a local fad.